For Love or For Wealth?
by HumanAtHeart
Summary: An heiress, a bankrupt music store worker, a pregnant prostitute, a genius, a rich highschooler, and a homeless singer. Six individuals, three unexpected meetings, one story of secrets, lies, social class, facing reality, and falling in love for the first time. Rated M for many, many reasons...
1. Prologue: Sunrise

By: Human at Heart

Prologue: Sunrise

A pair of stunning blue eyes opened sleepily as the train squealed to a stop. The owner of the eyes sat up, having been awoken from a peaceful and dreamless sleep by the noise. She had dozed off in her seat when night had fallen over the train, and now, as the admirable engine came to a stop at one of the stations, it was sometime in the early morning. She reached back and stroked her frail, pale hand through her long, beautiful hair, making sure it wasn't a mess. When she found it to be tangled and frizzed, she reached into her expensive faux leather handbag to grab a hairbrush.

"Station number twenty three." A mechanical woman's voice said as the doors to the train swung open. The woman sighed and continued to brush her hair; they hadn't yet reached her stop.

When the woman had finished her primping, she stowed her brush away and set her bag under her seat. She looked around at her fellow passengers; a sleeping businessman with a fedora over his bald head, an exhausted looking woman who was typing something on her laptop, an old couple who were sleeping like the dead, and a pregnant woman surrounded by three sleeping little boys. The owner of the dazzling blue eyes pulled a small notepad out of her coat pocket and began to take notes. Nobody took any notice, it being that the majority of them were asleep, except the pregnant woman. She watched as the blue eyed, long haired beauty glanced around at her surroundings for a few minutes, then jotted down notes as if she were a student in a classroom. Actually, a scientist in a lab fir better, it being that the woman looked very curious and involved as she wrote down bits of…something…on the small pad.

When the note-taker looked toward the pregnant woman, she noticed that she was being watched, and quickly put away her notes in embarrassment. She blushed a furious shade of crimson and bowed her head, avoiding the pregnant woman's gaze.

When the train began to move again, one of the small boys was awakened. He looked around the train car curiously, as if he had never seen it before. The owner of the blue eyes and long hair mentally noted this, reminding herself to write it down when she couldn't receive anyone's odd looks, as if she was some exotic creature inside of a zoo.

The observer watched as the boy whispered something to his mother, and she shook her head. The boy looked at his mother with large eyes, attempting to persuade her to do something he wanted. But the mother just shook her head and whispered something back to the boy. The boy whimpered and began to cry. The observer quickly pulled out her note pad and began writing again; urgently trying to record everything she wanted along with her own thoughts on the matter. She watched as the woman frantically tried to quiet the child as the other passengers awoke. She ordered the silence several times, even using swear words that were much too vulgar for a boy of that age to hear. After many failed attempts to quiet her son, the woman raised her hand threateningly, but the boy continued to sob and whine. The woman shouted the order once more at the boy as she swung her hand down on him. Her blow hit his flesh with a loud smack, silencing the boy immediately. The observing beauty scribbled frantically in her paper, the woman turning from her son to glare at her. The blue-eyed woman finished her excited writing and tucked the small note pad back into her coat, her cheeks once again reddening with embarrassment.

There was a sudden squeal as the train started to slow and came to a stop.

"Station number twenty four," the automated female voice informed them. The woman stood, giving the pregnant woman one last apologetic smile as she grabbed her bag, walked over to grab her suitcase, and exited the train.

She stepped onto the outdoor train station platform and looked at her surroundings. She was in the city now; there was no doubt about that. Tall buildings were everywhere, and people of all kinds were wondering the streets. She resisted the urge to whip out her note pad and write down as much as she could; she wanted to save space. She looked out to the horizon, seeing a gorgeous sunrise that left her speechless, not that she had spoken recently. It was dazzling, probably the most beautiful sunrise she had ever seen. But she quickly regained her composure and remembered her task. She had to get moving to her hotel room. She looked at the GPS on her cell phone and began to follow it, turning her back to the stunning sunrise and her face toward the city. She hurried along, pulling her suitcase behind her. Her curtain of long, pink hair flashed behind her, catching the eye of many. Her hair color made her all the more striking in the eyes of anyone, especially men.

Following her GPS, the woman hastened her pace as she disappeared from the train station.

…

Only a few miles away, in a very small apartment, another pair of blue eyes opened. But these eyes weren't as bright or vibrant as the previous pair. They were smaller, and darker. These eyes were attached to a face with a very angular jaw structure and very formed and distinct features. The face turned to look at its alarm clock, which was beeping and buzzing the way it did every morning, right at six o' clock. The man who owned the face sighed and reached to turn the clock off.

He sat up in his bed and stretched his arms. He was wearing only his boxers, which didn't matter, considering that he lived alone. The man got out of his bad and walked over to his small mirror, where he saw his long hair in a mess that would make any hair stylist scream bloody murder. He grabbed a comb and roughly yanked it through his hair before tying it back in a ponytail. It wasn't exactly manly, but it was his signature look, so he went with it.

The ponytailed man made his way over to his closet, where he grabbed a simple pair of jeans and a solid grey t-shirt to wear for that day. It wasn't as if anyone at the music store would care; they didn't exactly have a work uniform for that. He walked into his "kitchen," which was basically an area of his tiny, cheap apartment with a stove and a sink. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, both while attempting to conserve as much water as possible. He was already knee-deep in debt, and he didn't want to raise his water bill beyond what he could pay with what he made at the music store.

After shoving his feet into his only pair of shoes, he headed out of his apartment and down the stairs. He would grab breakfast and coffee at the café around the corner, he decided. It was on the way to the store and would take less time than making something in his apartment, not like he had any food to cook. Pretty much all of his meals came from cafés or coffee shops, he didn't have the money to buy all his food at once from a grocery store.

As he walked into the lobby of the apartment building, he was stopped by an extremely fat man in a suit that looked ready to explode.

"Mr. Kamui." The man addressed him smugly. "You still haven't paid your rent for this month."

"I know." The man with the ponytail said coldly. He truly hated the building's owner/manager. He was always taunting him about his lack of money and inability to pay his rent. "I swear, once I get enough money, I will pay it. Just give me a few more days."

"You've been saying that for weeks Gakupo." The fat man crossed his flabby arms. "And you still haven't paid me. I'm starting to think that I may have to throw you out."

"Don't call me by my given name." a dangerous look flashed across Gakupo's eyes, but the overweight building owner just laughed.

"You can't hurt me Mr. Kamui. If you even so much as touch me, I'll have you thrown out onto the streets again. We don't want that, do we?'

Gakupo glared at the man for a long time before he stepped around him and walked out, whipping the fat man with long, purple ponytail on his way. He stepped through the doors and headed in the direction of the café.

But on his way, he noticed a dazzling sight, the sunrise. He sighed, staring at it for a moment, letting it's beauty momentarily take his mind off his troubles. He had seen sunrises like it before; they were often like that in the city in which he lived. And this one was no different. But Gakupo liked to lose himself in the sunrises, they helped take his troubles off his mind and make him feel at ease. He smiled, remembering the countless times where he had stopped on his way to work and stared at the glorious rising sun.

He glanced at his digital watch and realized that he needed to get moving. He started off toward the café, his purple ponytail swishing behind him and his spirits higher than the sunrise. He was starting to feel much more confidant.

…

Not two miles away, a third pair of blue eyes opened. This pair opened to see a metal wall, the same wall they'd been looking at for three months now. The eyes had once been full of luminous joy, but now were nothing more than empty, soulless holes. The eyes were also the only clean part of the face, the rest being covered in a thick layer of dirt and grime. Even the lips, which were chapped to the point of being bloody, had some filth covering them. The face was attached to a head of long, blonde hair that had once been beautifully washed and combed, but was now so tangled and grime infested that it made the person it was connected to look like an evil witch from some sort of twisted fairy tale. The once curvy and sexy body of the "witch" had become terribly misshapen from the malnutrition caused by the prison food she had been forced to eat.

_But today's the day! Today I'm finally getting out of this hell-hole and going back to…._

Back to where? It wasn't as if she had anywhere to go. Her parents had become too poor to feed her when she was sixteen, so they had thrown her out of the house. She had lived on the streets for less than a year before an illegal prostitution organization had taken her in. Having no other choice, she had worked there for another two years, selling herself any strange man who had happened to feel the need for….

But they had been caught. The men running the organization had been arrested and the prostitutes along with them. The case of whether the women should have remained in jail or not had been up for the past three months, and it had finally been decided that the prostitutes would be released. Lily was excited, but still had no reason to get up off the hard stone floor. She wasn't leaving just yet.

But then returned the previous question, where would she go? She couldn't go back to her parents and beg to be let back in, that would never work. She thought about returning to the prostitution organization, but that wouldn't exactly get her anywhere, the men running the organization had been sentenced to…she didn't even know how many years in prison. Apparently turning homeless women into sex toys was a big no no.

There it was again. The idea of prostitution made her feel sick to her stomach. What was even worse was the knowledge that had buried itself in her memory. SHE had been a prostitute. A slut, a whore, whatever you wanted to call it, she had been a part of that horrible thing. Before her parents had rejected her, sending her out to the cold, unforgiving streets, she had been a virgin. Now she'd had sex with more men than she had though possible in just two years.

And she was four months pregnant.

She placed a hand over the small bulge in her torso. It was hard to believe that she, a nineteen year old girl, had a living thing growing inside of her. She didn't even know who its father was; she'd had so many "customers" it was impossible to tell. It scared her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to care for the small life form that was developing in her body. She wanted it gone, so that she wouldn't have to go through the pain of birth for the sake of a baby she couldn't keep. The court had decided that as soon as it was born, the baby would be put up for adoption. But she wanted one of those surgeries that could get rid of it before it was born. It sounded terrible, she knew, but would letting the baby live really be doing it a favor?

Suddenly, the door to her cell opened. She rolled over to see a man standing there, ready to take her away from the horrible prison she had been forced to sit and rot in for the past three months. She recognized the man as the one who had brought her horrible meals every day.

"Ready to go Lily?" he asked her, watching as she slowly picked herself up from the dusty stone floor.

"Go where?" Lily asked. "A homeless shelter? That's where I'm going to have the baby that I don't want, or get to keep for that matter. Why couldn't the court pay to have it removed, or at least get me an ultrasound?"

"I can't answer that." The man said sadly. "But anywhere is better than here. You can go to one of the homeless shelters if you choose, or you can take your own path. Just stay away from those slut camps if you don't want to get into this mess again."

"Not like I had a choice the first time." Lily muttered as she followed the man out of the jail. They walked through the halls, past all the security, and out of the building. Lily stepped outside and looked at the man who had led her out.

"Thank you," she said with a nod. "For everything."

The man gave her a small nod before going back inside, leaving Lily to herself. She looked around, not really knowing what to do at that point. She looked toward the east, noticing the rising sun. It was a stunning thing to see after being in that same cell, staring at that same grey, stone wall for months. She had nowhere to go, so she decided to head in the sun's direction, hoping it would lead her somewhere.

…

On the complete other side of the city, a pair of bark brown eyes shot open. The body they belonged to sat up with insane urgency, as if he had been startled by something. He looked around at his blurry surroundings and sighed.

_Just that same nightmare, again._

The man grabbed a pair of round glasses from his bedside table and carefully positioned them on his face. He threw his covers aside and climbed out of bed. He walked, yawning, to the bathroom. He found himself staring into his mirror for several minutes, watching his ridiculous, untidy self stare back. He sighed and, setting his glasses beside to sink, turned on the shower.

When the shower was done, he combed his tousled brown hair, brushed his teeth, and walked out of the bathroom. He walked over to his closet and searched through until he found a long-sleeved white button-up, black dress pants, and a dark blue tie. He had a job interview later that day, and he wanted to look as impressive as he could. He looked at his watch and, seeing that he had plenty of time before he had to leave, went into the kitchen to make himself breakfast. He didn't really know how to cook, but putting two frozen waffles in a toaster wasn't very hard.

When he had two syrup covered waffles, a small slightly burned mushroom omelet, a mug of hot black coffee, and a newspaper, he walked out onto his terrace and sat down in a black wicker chair and placed his breakfast on a matching coffee table. He was halfway through his food when he noticed the sunrise. It was no different than it was every day, but it still caught his gaze for just a moment. He felt drawn to it, as if he needed to head toward it to find something.

But he pulled himself back to reality and shook his head at his own foolishness. He had no time to be chasing the sun like a child, he had work to do. Well, at least he would if he got the job. He was almost certain he would, though. He had a master's degree in mathematics and a perfect record from all throughout his school years. He had been born an upperclassman with a rich family, and most of their money went into his education, making sure he was always in the top classes of only the best private schools. He had been smart enough to score unbelievably high on the college entrance exams, not like he hasn't already been guaranteed a scholarship with his grades.

He knew he was going to get the job, so why was he thinking about chasing a sunrise? He had always been studious and focused as a child, not having much time for games. So why was this happening now?

He tried to forget about it and concentrate on his breakfast. When it was gone and his paper read, he glanced once again at his expensive leather watch. He realized that he needed to depart right then if he wanted to get there on time. He grabbed his briefcase and jacket and rushed out of his apartment, his neatly combed brown locks falling out of place.

…

Two more blue eyes opened to the sound a voice calling the name of the human they were attached to.

"Miku! Time to get up!"

Miku sat up on her soft, spongy mattress. She held her many silky blankets over her body to shield herself from the cold draft that flowed into room through a window she had left open the previous night. She sighed, knowing she had to get out of bed and face the cold if she wanted it to stop. She giggled, deciding to make it a game with herself. At sixteen, she was a bit old for games, but what did that matter if she was all alone?

She leaped out from under her pile of blankets and launched herself at the window, running to it at full speed. She was on it in seconds, grabbing the unsuspecting window and slamming it shut. She giggled and congratulated herself on her victory over the monstrous window with its breath of ice.

She then reminded herself that she had to get ready for school. She twirled into her closet and pulled on her school blouse and skirt, the required uniform. Then she gracefully waltzed into her bathroom, cringing when she saw the mess that her long turquoise hair had transformed into while she slept. She ran her hairbrush through the tangles and knots until her hair was perfect again. Then she grabbed two hair ribbons and tied her hair into high pigtails, smiling with satisfaction when she finished. She then began applying makeup to her eyes, cheeks, and lips until she looked like a little doll.

Miku strode out of her room and down the stairs that led into the kitchen. There she saw her mother cooking breakfast and her father reading an old novel.

"Good morning, Miku." Her mother said cheerily when she saw her daughter enter the kitchen. "Breakfast will be ready in a minute."

"Thanks mom!" Miku said with a grin. She loved her mother's cooking.

"Hey! There's my little girl!" her father said, putting down the book and ruffling his daughter's pigtail-bound hair. "How are you, princess?"

Miku giggled. "I'm great dad! Just don't play with my hair today, alright? It's the first day of school, and I don't want my hair getting all messed up!"

"Alright," he said with a smile. "I'll let you off the hook today, princess."

Miku giggled. She loved it when her dad called her princess. He had been calling her that since she was a toddler, and he had kept it up all these years.

"You sure seem excited for school, Miku." Her mother said as she carried their breakfast of scrambled egg whites, fresh hash browns, and orange slices to the table.

"I'm always excited for school!" she informed her. "It's nice to see the friends that I don't really gat to hang out with during the summer. Not to mention new teachers, classes, and maybe even new friends!"

"With your personality, I'd be surprised if you didn't make any new friends." Her father said with a laugh. "You're like a walking ball of sunshine."

Miku blushed; she always felt embarrassed when her father complimented her. She didn't think she would ever get used to it.

"Hey?" her mother said halfway through the meal. "Look at that sunrise!"

Miku glanced over her shoulder to look through the window. The sunrise didn't look any different from every other morning. She didn't see what made this one so special.

"It's okay I guess." She said halfheartedly. "I mean, it doesn't look any different than it did yesterday, or the day before that."

"I may look the same every day," her mother agreed. "But that doesn't make it any less special. Just like you Miku, no matter how many times we see you smile and laugh, you still look just as beautiful and you're just as special."

Miku smiled as she felt her cheeks fill with heat. Her parents were the kindest, sweetest people in the world in her eyes. She had convinced herself that she could never love anyone more than she loved them.

"I better get going." Miku said, standing from the breakfast table. "I don't want to be late on the first day!"

…

The final pair of eyes opened inside of a cardboard box. They were a deep blue, like the color of the ocean, and filled with sadness and starvation.

The man whose eyes contained such despair was curled up on the hard cement of an alleyway, his head and shoulders tucked inside a cardboard box to protect them from the biting frost of the wind. He groaned with the pain of hunger and pulled his head out of the box. He sat up, staring tiredly at the box for a moment. He wondered if he should just crawl back inside and save himself from another day of relentless taunting and teasing from the upper class. But his growling stomach made that decision pretty quickly. He needed food, and getting food meant getting money first.

He sighed and stood up, running a grimy hand through his filthy blue locks. He was a disgusting looking homeless man, but what could he do about that? Right now, he needed money. He didn't have a job, but he did have something else.

The blue-haired man grabbed a dirty old hat he had found in a garbage can and walked out of the alleyway. Nobody even reacted to his appearance; there were homeless people everywhere in that city. The man set his hat down on the sidewalk, stood behind it, and began to sing.

The man had an astounding voice, which could carry the melody of any song beautifully. Some people even stopped and looked at the disgusting man in surprise. Could a grimy homeless man like him really have such a perfect singing voice.

Several people came and dropped money into the hat. Some even stopped to listen to him for a bit. But there were still _those people. _

The people who looked at him like he didn't deserve to be in their presence, the people who snickered and giggled at him because he was coated in muck and grime, the people who whispered "It's that creepy hobo who lives in a box!" "I heard he rapes women in that creepy alley he's always hiding in!" "Is someone as ugly as him really trying to earn money off his voice? What a cheap bastard!"

The jabs and rumors hurt, a lot. But he kept singing, because he knew the truth. He had never raped anyone in his life; he was even a virgin! And he wasn't ugly, just really dirty. He wasn't greedy or cheap either, he was just hungry.

After an hour of singing, he went and looked through his hat to count the money. The total sum didn't turn out to be a lot, but it was enough to buy breakfast. He took his hat and started walking toward a small café that he knew would sell to him, because they knew how desperate he was.

On his way there, though, a group of teenage boys jumped him. The first one gave him a punch right to his gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to fall to his knees. A second boy snatched the hat with his money away and flew back to the bushes.

"I got it!" the boy who had taken the hat shouted. The singer tried to stand and take his money back, but a third boy kicked him from behind, causing him to fall forward and slam into the pavement, grazing his cheek.

As the boys ran away, the homeless man didn't move. He didn't attempt to pursue the children who had taken his only money, but he just lied still on the sidewalk. He was starving, but there was no way he could earn enough money to buy food in time. He didn't even have the strength to stand.

He heard the sounds of people walking by him, but nobody stopped to help. Watching homeless people die in that city was about as tragic as watching your pet goldfish get flushed down the toilet. It was slightly more tragic when it was a child, but he has so dirt coated that he didn't even look twenty one.

He looked up, hoping to find at least one sympathetic face. But the last relatively friendly thing he saw before losing consciousness was the beautiful sunrise everyone had been admiring.

Then it all went black

…

Six individuals, all from different worlds, in the same city, watching the same sunrise….

Where could this be going?


	2. Chapter 1: Two Meetings Out of Three

Chapter One: Two Meetings Out of Three

Miku stepped out of her family's massive house and into the cold morning breeze. She shivered and hurried toward the bus that would take her into the city, where her expensive private school was. As she ran along, it started to drizzle, enticing to run faster; she didn't want to get wet, for it would ruin her makeup, turn her voluminous turquoise pigtails into wet noodles, and get her perfect uniform soaked.

Luckily, she reached the bus before the rain got any harder. She climbed on, panting from the exertion of running. She looked around for a seat and found there to be one open one left. She was just about to sit in it when an ancient looking man hobbled onto the bus. She immediately gave her seat to the man, for that was how her parents had raised her to act. Her father had said that there was no pride in a family that didn't give to the less fortunate.

She stood most of the bus ride, holding on to one of the poles in the aisle way. The bus drove off into the city, making several stops before hers. As they drove, the light drizzle worsened until it was pouring rain.

At the stop before hers, she glanced absently out the window to see something that made her jaw drop and her eyes bug out of her head. There was a man lying face down on the pavement.

"My God!" she exclaimed. She pushed her way through the boarding passengers, who gave her several shouts of protest. The driver angrily shouted something at her, but she didn't listen. She jumped the steps that led off the bus and ran to the man's side. She grabbed him and flipped his body over, checking his pulse. She sighed with relief; his heart was beating. She bent over and placed her ear to his lips, then his nose. He was breathing, but it was ragged and shallow. She tried to lift the man, but he weighed too much, or maybe she just wasn't strong enough. So she contented herself by grabbing him underneath his arms and dragging him toward a small, nearby café. On her way, a tall man with brown hair that was soaking in the rain and very nice clothes that were doing the same.

"Mister!" Miku called to him. "Help me! Please, I found him unconscious; I think he's starving!"

The man hurried over and took the unconscious man in his arms. They ran along and into the café, where the woman at the counter stared at them in shock. She then turned around and yelled to the back room.

"Some people came in with Kaito! He needs help!"

A man rushed out from the back of the café, looking from the familiar unconscious man, to the brown haired, soaked stranger, to Miku. His eyes stopped on her.

"Ma'am," he said. "You should probably know that your makeup is running."

Miku's eyes widened. She ran into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. She gasped when she saw her reflection. She looked like some sort of horror movie monster with her black eye liner and mascara and red lipstick smeared all over her face by the rain. She sighed in frustration and bent over to scrub it all from her face.

…

The brown haired man was frustrated. He had been on his way to the job interview, but he had been stopped by that girl. Why had he even helped them? That wasn't like him, normally he would've kept walking. If he stopped to help every homeless man he saw, he wouldn't get anywhere. He was just about to leave the blue-haired unconscious man -the lady at the counter had called him Kaito- when the store owner stopped him.

"Sir, can I at least know your name?" he asked.

"Hiyama Kiyoteru." The brown haired genius said bluntly. "And I really am in a hurry."

"I apologize for delaying you, Mr. Hiyama." The shop owner said with a nod "It's just that few people of your class ever stop to help people like Kaito."

"I know." He said as he left the café.

…

When Miku came out of the bathroom, she saw that the man with the brown hair and the glasses was gone. The only people still there were the old shop owner and the young woman behind the counter. Miku sighed and glanced at her watch.

"Shoot!" she muttered. She rushed to the door. "I'm late!"

"Excuse me ma'am?" the old man was confused.

"School!" Miku cried "I'm late!"

She rush out into the rain and ran for the school, only becoming even more soaked along the way. She must've been several miles away, but the sprinted as long as she could.

…

As Gakupo entered the café, he saw a soaking wet man with blue hair laying unconscious in one of the booths.

"What happened?" he asked Meiko, the woman behind the counter.

"Some fancy looking man and a teenage girl found him like that in the street." Meiko explained, chewing a wad of gum. "he sometimes comes in here when he has enough money to buy something, but we're just gonna give him food this time. He's obviously starving."

"Poor guy, I know how he feels." Gakupo said, looking at the homeless man. "What's his name?"

"Kaito. He says he doesn't have a last name." Meiko said with a shrug. "But if he doesn't wanna share it, I'm not gonna pry."

"I didn't think you would." Gakupo laughed. Meiko was a very passive woman. She didn't pry, or argue, or pick fights. She was very talkative, but mostly about random things.

"So what do you want?" she asked "You gotta get to work soon."

Gakupo ordered his breakfast and went to look at Kaito. After a minute, he realized that he recognized him. He had seen him singing on the street a few times. He had even stopped to give him a couple dollars before, it being all he could spare. He had lived on the streets before and knew how Kaito felt. His friend had eventually helped him out, giving him enough money to rent an apartment and helping him find a job, but she had died of cancer two months ago, leaving him not only with no money, but a shattered will to live. He had sort of gotten back on his feet, at least enough to be working hard again. He had to pay his rent soon, before he went back to how he'd been before.

"Gakupo!" he heard Meiko calling. "I got your food!"

Gakupo took his food, thanked Meiko, and walked back into the rain. He ate on his way to the music store, absently wondering where the people who had helped Kaito had gone.

_Meiko said a teenage girl, so she must've had to go to school. Maybe the man had a job to get to or something, anyone in our situation would have plenty of work to do._

_ What if it was an upperclassman? No, that can't be right. None of the upper class people would ever bother to help a homeless man. They don't give a shit about anyone but themselves._

These were Gakupo's thoughts as he walked to the music store. He sipped his coffee and nibbled on a breakfast burrito. He and every other struggling life in the city knew that anyone rich didn't care about the lower class or the homeless. They were just trash to brush aside as they walked along the street.

When he walked into the store, he walked into the back to check in with the manager and grab his nametag. When he came back into the main room of the store, he saw that there were few people in there other than his fellow employees. It didn't surprise him. Their store only sold CDs and a few music magazines, not to mention that their store was in a poorer area, where most people couldn't afford to waste money on music that they didn' anything to play with. The manager had needed to fire several employees because he couldn't afford to pay them anymore.

"Gakupo!" he heard one of the other employees call. He sighed and walked over to her.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"This guy wants to find an album, but I have no clue where it is." She said in a bored tone, pointing to a teenage boy with long, greasy hair.

"Alright," he said with a nod. The boy told him the name of the album and band, and he sighed and went to search through the boxes of CDs in the back room.

This was going to be a long day.

…

The woman with the note pad walked along, umbrella overhead, frowning at her phone. The GPS was just leading her in circles, recalculating every five minutes. She was extremely frustrated and fed up with wandering around in the rain.

When the GPS said "Recalculating" for the millionth time, she cried out in frustration and closed the app. She looked around to see that she had wandered into a poor little shopping district filled with exhausted looking homeless people wandering everywhere. It made the woman feel horrible to see people who didn't have money, homes, or jobs. She even saw small families with young children who had nothing, and were slowly starving. She had no food with her, so all she could do was give pitying looks. She didn't want to give them money; for fear that they would spend it on some sort of drug and only worsen their situation.

She looked around, wanting to find somewhere to ask for directions. There was a small music store to her right, and she decided that it would be the best place to ask, considering that most of the homeless people either had a shady, dangerous look about them, or they were part of a family, and homeless families were unable to move around a lot due. She sighed and walked into the store, brushing her long pink hair behind her ear.

When she walked inside, she saw several people in simple, solid color shirts and either basic jeans or sweatpants. They obviously didn't care what they looked like and had no money to buy anything better. She felt the eyes of everyone in the store on her, and she looked to the floor. There were a few snickers and whispers between employees, but nobody came to speak to her. She blushed furiously when she realized that she would have to approach one of them to ask for directions. She was horribly shy, and didn't like to speak unless spoken to.

She walked up to the least intimidating looking person, a girl with more colors in her hair than could be counted, and cleared her throat.

"What?" the girl asked rudely. The woman was surprised; she had done nothing to upset this girl, so why would she be acting so obscenely?

"I…um…may I ask your name?" the woman stuttered.

"Galaco." The girl said, looking at the woman suspiciously. "I'd who you are, but I seriously don't care."

"Would you….happen to know where the Megpoid Hotel is?" her voice was practically a whisper.

"That overdressed, stupidly fancy hotel for rich snobs?" Galaco said with a scowl.

The woman stared at the ground and mumbled a yes.

"I don't know how to get there." Galaco informed her. "But there's someone who might." She turned toward an open door at the back of the store and shouted. "Gakupo! Hurry up in there, somebody needs your help!"

"Why can't you do it, lazy ass?" a man's voice shouted from inside the room. The woman suppressed a smile, not wanting any more dirty looks from Galaco.

"Let's switch jobs then!" Galaco shouted back. "I'll find the stupid CD and you help this…" she looked at the pink-haired woman for a moment with distain "Lady"

Galaco disappeared through the doorway, probably to get this Gakupo she had been talking about. As soon as she was gone, the woman whipped out her notepad and started writing as fast as she could. She had to make up for the time Galaco had spent giving her dirty looks.

…

"What's the problem?" Gakupo asked. Galaco was the laziest woman alive, she would make other employees do whatever she didn't feel like doing.

"Some rich ass bitch wants directions to that stupid hotel uptown." Galaco said, her voice filled with hate. "I don't know where it is, and you spent a lot of time up there when you were begging. I figured you might be able to help."

"Sounds fun." He said with a disgusted tone. He'd had enough experience with rich people to know that they were all the same, just a bunch of uptight snobs who looked at people like them as nothing more than dirt for them to step on. Nevertheless, he went out of the back room to see exactly who Galaco had been talking to.

She was beautiful, with long, pink hair that reached her hips. Her eyes were a beautiful, lively blue. Her nose was small, but not ridiculously so. Her lips were coated with a soft coral lipstick and weren't exactly small, but not as freakishly large and fake as he had seen on most rich women. She was wearing a brown button up coat that had a few inches of white fur on the edges of the sleeves, the collar, and the waist. It was a long coat that went to almost halfway down her thighs. She also wore a pair of long, black, dressy pants that looked as if they were meant to be ironed. Her shoes were high-heeled black leather boots that almost reached her knees and didn't absorb water, so it was hard to tell that they were wet. She was holding a folded up umbrella, which explained why she wasn't wet. She looked amazing.

Then he remembered who she was. She was just another one of them, the perfect people with the perfect clothes, the perfect records, the perfect cars, the perfect houses, and of course the money.

"Did you want something?" he asked as she scribbled something down on a mini notepad, not even acknowledging his existence.

_She probably thinks she's too good to talk to someone like me. I bet she's pretending I'm not here just to show how superior she is to me. I fucking hate these people._

"Did you want something?" he asked her angrily. She looked up from her notepad in surprise, her cheeks turning red as she tucked whatever she was writing back into the pocket of her coat.

"I….uh….yes…" the woman stuttered. "I'm….uh…..looking for the Megpoid hotel. But I got really lost."

"I noticed." Gakupo said with a sneer. "I know how to get there."

He gave her the directions to the hotel, which she jotted down on the pad.

_Why is she blushing and stuttering so much? She can't actually be SHY!_

"Thank you, sir." She said with a polite nod.

_Now I'm really confused. Is she actually trying to be NICE to me? No, she's probably just trying to mock me, that stupid bitch._

"Whatever." Gakupo snarled. "Just get out of here if you aren't buying anything."

The woman nodded and hurried out of the store. As if on cue, everyone burst into conversation about her. They made up theories about who she was, joked about her obviously expensive clothing, and came to ask Gakupo questions about her, most being about the way she had acted. Gakupo was slightly uncomfortable with all the attention from his coworkers and the few customers, so he directed it toward someone he knew would be happy to accept it.

"She talked to Galaco too." Gakupo said as he sorted through a bow of CDs, trying to organize them. "Go annoy her."

Galaco loved attention, so she happily answered with her accounts of the woman's awkward behavior, obviously mocking them, and idiotically expensive clothing.

Gakupo had always been a loner of sorts, never wanting attention or a large amount of friends. He did have a few, like Galaco (She was lazy and a bit of an attention whore, but she was nice when you got to know her.) and Meiko the café worker. He didn't need much to be happy, but he did need a home.

And if he didn't get enough money soon, that home would be gone.

…

Everyone stared as Miku burst into the classroom. She was over an hour late, having to run almost half the entire way.

"Hatsune Miku, I presume?" the teacher asked. "Was there a problem getting to school?"

"I…" Miku looked around the classroom to see the shocked faces of her peers. They had been in school with her for the last year, some even longer, and they had never seen her late, especially not this late. She thought about telling the teacher the truth, but it would obviously sound like a made up excuse.

"The bus broke down." She said, knowing that everyone else on the bus had been an adult and, therefore, too old to be in school. "I had to walk half the way."

"Ordinarily, I would hold this against you." The teacher warned her. "But seeing that it is the first day, and from what your record says, you have never committed any sort of offense before, I'll let you off the hook."

"Thank you sensei!" Miku said gratefully, not even knowing the teacher's name. She walked over and took the only empty seat left, which happened to be next to one of the most annoying boys she had ever met.

_Gee, this year is off to a great start._

But all the same she glumly listened as the teacher began to drone on about something Miku knew she should be focusing on, but couldn't. Her mind just kept wandering back to the homeless man. She knew that the café people planned to give him food, but it was obvious that he needed more than that. He required a hospital, and neither he nor the café could afford to spend money on medical bills.

Miku thought for a moment. _They _didn't have the money, but _she _did! She could pay to at least get the man looked at, and more if it was needed! But would her father agree? He might, seeing how it was to help a man less fortunate than themselves.

…

The woman, following Gakupo's instructions, made it to the hotel safely. She walked up to the front desk to see a man in an elaborately designed suit. She sighed with relief; she didn't stand out here.

"Reservation?" the man asked her.

She nodded.

"Name?"

"Megurine." The woman said pleasantly. She didn't feel shy here, not in comparison to all those rude people in the music store.

"Ah yes," the man said as he scrolled down a computer screen. "Floor nineteen. Room one nine one seven. I'll get someone to take your bag."

"No, I would rather take it myself, thank you." Luka said with a pleasant smile. "I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"Very well." The man said, handing her a colorful key card. "Have a good day, Miss. Megurine."

"Thank you." She said, taking the key. "Here" she handed him a ten dollar bill. "You earned it by being so kind to me."

"Are you sure ma'am?" he asked with surprise. "Surely I cannot accept such a generous tip."

"Take it, I insist." She said. "Goodbye." She turned and walked over to the elevator, her suitcase dragging behind her. She pressed the glowing button with the arrow pointing up, and soon the metal doors opened, revealing a gorgeous glass elevator. She stepped inside and pressed the button with the number nineteen. The elevator went straight up, letting her see the expanse of the enormous and elegant dining area, just a floor above the lobby.

_I see what those people meant when they called it fancy. But ridiculous? It's beautiful!_

On her way up, she pulled out her notes and began writing, making sure she had gotten every detail about the previous experience. When the doors opened, she stepped out as she continued taking notes. When she finished, she held on to the pad instead of tucking it back into her coat and started toward her room. Sure enough, there it was on her left. There was a beautiful golden plate that read **1917** and a doorknob to match. She slipped her key into the slot, unlocking the beautiful wooden door. She stepped inside, immediately being greeted with a gorgeous room with a single bed with white sheets, a flat screen television, an ornate wooden desk, a full body mirror, a mini fridge, and two sliding glass doors on the wall opposite from her. She guessed that they led to the closet and bathroom.

She immediately set her suitcase by her bed and unbuttoned her coat, revealing the button-up, long-sleeved, white blouse she was wearing. It was puffy, but had a thin band of elastic halfway down her waist. The sleeves were see-through and loose, along with the fabric below the elastic, allowing her to show off her figure. The buttons were just for decoration, and couldn't even be unbuttoned. She loved that shirt, but in a place like this, which was filled with dangerous people, it made her feel exposed. Even in her hotel room, she felt vulnerable without her coat on.

She went and sat down in the cushy swivel chair that was in front of the desk. She set down her notes from the day and looked over them, trying to see what information she had gathered. She had been looking over the notes when suddenly her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her jeans pocket and looked at the caller.

**Mom **it read. Luka sighed and answered.

"Hi mom"

"Luka! How are you honey? Did you find the hotel?"

"I'm fine, mom. Yeah I'm in the hotel. I was just starting to look over some stuff."

"Oh, is it for the book?"

"At the moment, it is the book." Luka sighed. "I don't know if this is going to work. I got all this information, and it's not even noon yet, but I don't have a clue how I'm going to put it all together."

"Well, don't give up yet! You still have a few months to do everything before your reservation expires. Besides, this was your idea, and if you don't get this book done…"

"I know, I know. I lose my deal with the publisher, and they won't publish any of my works ever again. Why did you have to bring that up?"

"Sorry, you just sounded like you needed some motivation."

"I know you're trying to help, but this is just making me feel worse."

"Well, were there any interesting places you saw today?"

Immediately, the music store popped into Luka's head.

"Yeah, there was one place I found with some really interesting people. But it's in a poorer part of the city, and the people there are really rude."

"Well, it's up to you if you want to go back there or not." Luka's mother assured her. "But if I were you, I'd do it no matter what they said to me. What you need to do is find one interesting person, ask them if they want to help, and there you have your information!"

"Then the information will fit together better, and I can use it for my book!" Luka said, finally catching on. "But what if none of them will help?"

"Offer to pay them!" her mother said simply.

"You and papa won't mind?" Luka was nervous, she'd taken enough money from her parents in order to take this trip.

"Of course not, it's for the sake of your job!"

"If the book sells, you two are getting enough to repay all the money you spent on this trip!"

"Nonsense! You are keeping every penny you earn. Now get back to work!"

Luka sighed as her mother hung up. She was a very generous woman who had taught Luka to act the same way. She loved her mother, but was afraid of her spending too much money on Luka. Their family may have been extremely rich, but that didn't mean they had to spend money on every little thing they wanted.

Luka turned back to her notes; she had work to do.

…

Lily finally collapsed. She had been walking east for hours, not coming across anything helpful. She didn't have a single penny to spend, and she was starving. Her baby would die if it wasn't fed, and she wouldn't be able to pay to get it removed.

She sighed. She was going to be a mother; there was no doubt about that. Her child wouldn't last a minute in this environment, especially since it would be born sometime near February. If it was cold and raining now, she could only imagine what it would be like then.

All of a sudden, she noticed a coffee shop. There was a large, white sign in the window that read HELP WANTED. She looked at her reflection in the shop's window and a disgustingly dirty blonde woman with a bulge in her stomach stared back. She sighed, she even_ looked _penniless. But she decided to try her luck and went inside.

As soon as she walked in, everyone stared at her. The customers, the employees, even the goldfish in the bowl on the counter seemed to be glaring at her. Nevertheless, she held her head high and proudly walked over to the counter.

"Excuse me?" she asked the boy behind the counter politely, he turned around and looked at her as if she was a piece of rotting fruit he had found on the sidewalk.

"What do you want?" he said in a disgusted tone.

"I saw the 'Help wanted' sign in the window." She explained. "May I apply for a job?"

"Why would we let YOU have a job here?"

"I don't think I understand your question."

"Why would anyone let a homeless slut like you work here?" the boy sneered.

"That's no reason to…" suddenly, she realized something. "Why did you just call me a slut?"

"Oh please, it's pretty obvious." The boy rolled his eyes. "You were one of the girls on that newscast, one of the whores who got caught."

Lily's eyes grew huge. Why hadn't anyone told her about this? How could anyone expect her to get a job if her face and name had been broadcasted all over the world? Everyone knew now that she had been a prostitute, which was why all the people in the shop had been staring at her. It wasn't because she was dirty -they could care less about that- it was because of what she had done before.

"Why are you still here?" the boy said obscenely. "I don't think my boss hires _prostitutes._"

There was that word again. The one that made her stomach churn and twist all up in knots. Horrible memories were coming back to her, causing her to place her hand on her stomach. She leaned over and wretched all over the clean tile floor.

"Hey! I just cleaned that!" the boy shouted. Lily fell to her knees, slowly scooting away from her vomit. That hadn't been morning sickness; Lily knew that for a fact.

"Who are you?" an angry, booming voice demanded. She looked up to see a tall, muscular man leaning over her. He glared at her as if she was even more disgusting than her vomit. She began to tremble, tears leaking from her eyes.

"I….I…." Lily stuttered.

"She's a slut! I saw her on TV!" one of the customers shouted.

"What the hell? I have kids here!" a feminine voice cried. "Get her out of here! She's a bad influence to them!"

"Who let her in here?" a third voice asked. "If this was MY shop, I would've kicked her out as soon as she walked in!"

"Did you see how proud she looked when she came in?" The first voice was back. "She's so _proud _of herself! Like she's doing a good thing!"

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The tall man said. "Your presence is creating unrest in my shop."

Lily nodded and stood shamefully.

"Sorry about your floor." She mumbled. "I'm pregnant."

"The stupid whore's _pregnant _too?" a new voice asked. "Jesus, will she ever stop?"

There was a complete uproar in the shop now. Lily turned, her head bowed, and walked straight out of the coffee shop. On her way to the exit, objects started flying toward her. Snacks, coffee cups (empty and full), crumpled up napkins, plastic forks, even metal coins from people shouting "You want money? I'll give you money!"

Lily broke into a run, bursting through the doors. She could hear cheering from the restaurant behind her as she ran through the rain into an alley. She rubbed her left arm, which had been soaked with hot coffee. She was in pain all over from the coins that people had thrown at her.

She reached a hand and pulled one of those large, jelly filled pastries out of her tangled blond locks. It had gotten stuck in there due to the tangles of her hair and stickiness of jelly. She smelled the pastry, but it was cold and soggy from the rain and smelled like her hair. She sighed and ate it, cringing when she felt how soggy and mushy it had become. She sighed and lied down in the alley, sobbing loudly. She would never be able to get a job, or be able to buy food. Everyone knew who she was, and everyone hated her for it.

Didn't they understand? She hadn't wanted to go into…that particular line of work. But she had been given no other option, she had been starving to death and they had been the only ones to reach out to her. She knew now that she should have gone to a homeless shelter or something, it would have saved her from this situation. She doubted that she could do that now, for fear of being rejected in the same fashion.

Her sobs were loud, but there was no one around to hear her. She cried for a long time, but there was no one to come to her rescue. She was truly alone, and would be forever. No one would take her in, even her parents (whether they had money now or not) would probably reject her again. No friends, family, allies, or even friendly acquaintances. It was horrible to think about, but in reality, it was the truth.

She sobbed for what felt like forever, and then she finally fell asleep in that alley.

* * *

**Question Time**

**If you could become any of these characters, who would it be?**

**If you had been in the coffee shop when they were attacking Lily, what would you have done?**

**How will Miku's father feel about her want to take Kaito to the hospital and pay for his bills?**

**What is Luka always writing in her notepad? What kind of book is she translating that to?**

**Have you actually heard of Galaco before? When I ask most people about her, they ask "Gala-who?"**

**How would you compare this to my last story? If you haven't read it, how would you compare it to other works you have read?**

**Are there any characters or people (from anything) that you would compare to any of the characters in my story?**

**Do Galaco and Gakupo have a good reason to hate Luka without getting to know her first?**

**If you had been on the bus with Miku, what would you have done?**

**Does anyone actually care about Kiyoteru at this point? I'm sorry that I haven't done much with his character yet.**

**If you were in Luka's shoes when she was in the music store, how would you have reacted to the employees behavior?**

**Is this story interesting to read? It isn't really becoming as popular as my last story.**

**Are there any Vocaloids you would like to see in the future? (Note: I have plans for Rin, Len, and Yuki. So don't request them!)**

**What's your favorite Vocaloid song?**

* * *

**Important Note!**

**For those of you who read my last story, you probably remember me promising two stories, this one and one with action. Well...I tried to write the other one, but I just couldn't get it to come out in a way that didn't sound immature and unprofessional. I'm very sorry to anyone who was looking forward to that, but I just can't put all my ideas into words that don't sound rambley, choppy, confusing, etc.**

**I apologize and hope you are enjoying this story! I know it's not as good as last time, but at least I'm not killing everyone this time!**

**Stay beautiful!**

** H.A.H. **


	3. Chapter 2: The Third Meeting and Some

Chapter Two: The Third Meeting and Some Disagreements

"Mr. Hiyama," the woman behind the desk shuffled through a stack of papers. "Although you do have an excellent record, we are looking for someone who has their doctorate."

"Please ma'am." Kiyoteru begged. "I really am the person you want for this job. I am extremely organized, and I have my master's degree…."

"That's just it, Mr. Hiyama." The woman said. "A master's just doesn't reach our standards. We have many others applying for this job who have their doctorate; that would make them of higher qualifications."

Kiyoteru sighed. He knew that the woman was correct.

"Very well." He stood from the small wooden chair he had been given. "I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"Mr. Hiyama, if you are looking for a job as a college math professor, may I suggest looking for a job at a community college. They would be more likely to accept someone with your degree."

"Thank you." Kiyoteru nodded and left the room. He had been sure he would get the job, but apparently his hoped had been false.

He was angry, very angry. He had never been turned down like that in his life. He was so used to getting his way, and being praised for being the best. His most recent math teacher had suggested that he go for his doctorate, but he had insisted that he was smart enough to go out into the world without it.

He was practically seething with rage as he left the building. He marched right off the college campus and turned in a random direction. He ran blindly, his briefcase banging against the side of his leg, through the crowd of people in an unfamiliar part of the city. He didn't know where he was going, but he didn't care. He just wanted to find an empty place to let his anger out.

…

"Hey, I know I was here earlier. I realized that you are a very complex and interesting person, and I would like to offer you a job as my research assistant for a project I'm working on. How about it?"

Luka stared at the mirror. It didn't give a response, but when did they ever? She had been practicing what she would say to Gakupo if she asked him to help her with her research. She had decided that it should be him; he had seemed like the most interesting person in the store. His behavior was very odd, and he had a sort of attitude about him.

She sighed, knowing that she would never find the courage to say those things to him in person. Her awkward shyness would turn everything she said into pathetic stuttering. She flopped down on the bed behind her, releasing a frustrated breath. This was never going to work; she was convinced of that much. It was obvious that everyone in the music store had been holding something against her, though she wasn't sure what. They had given her enough dirty looks and said more than enough rude things to her in order for her to get THAT through her head.

She sat up and walked into the bathroom, where she saw her former audience watching her from the other side of the mirror. She looked at herself; coral lipstick, brown mascara, pale pink blush to match her hair, just like she had looked two minutes ago. Then it hit her, she looked so wealthy! The people in the music store were obviously of a lower class, and they had something against rich people. It either had to do with previous negative experiences with upperclassmen, or it was built off of jealousy.

Luka bent down and washed all the makeup from her face, transforming her face into that of a different person. She pulled her long pink hair back into a ponytail, revealing her flashy green earrings. She quickly removed those and ran out of the bathroom. Dashing to her suitcase, she searched through it until she found a black t-shirt with a picture of an eagle on it. Luka had originally intended to wear it to bed, but it was the best she could do. She then changed into a pair of basic blue jeans and her running shoes. She grabbed a solid grey hoodie she had also been planning to wear as pajamas and pulled it over her head. She grabbed her notes off the desk and shoved them in the pocket of her hoodie.

She left the hotel room, trying to avoid the strange stares of passersby as she rushed to the elevator. She no longer looked as if she belonged in the Megpoid Hotel, being that she looked just as average as anyone outside. She rushed to the elevator and found a tall man waiting for it as well. She put her hood over her head and hung her head, not wanting to make eye contact with this man. He ignored her the whole time, not even sparing her a glance. The makeover was definitely working, the man thinking that she was inferior to him, and therefore not worthy to be looked upon. It created a minor upsetting feeling, but Luka had bigger problems.

…

Kaito sat up in the booth of the small café. It took him a moment, but he eventually realized that he was in the café that actually sold food to him. It was the one place in the world that made him feel welcome, and helped him if he had scrounged up enough money.

The friendly woman who worked there, Meiko, noticed his consciousness and approached him, holding a large bowl. She set it down on the table in front of him with a loud clatter.

"Eat" she commanded.

"I can't!" Kaito protested weakly. "I don't have anything to pay with!"

"It's on the house this time." Meiko said. "You need food, so eat."

Kaito complied, finding the soup to be warm and delicious. Usually all he was able to afford was a baked potato and occasionally a small sandwich. But the soup was gone in what must have been less than a minute. Meiko took the bowl away and smiled at Kaito; she had always been extremely kind to him.

"You got lucky Kaito." She said when she returned. "A couple of strangers found you half drowned in the rain out there. They brought you in here, and we took care of you. It was lucky they took you here instead of somewhere else, considering that we're the only ones willing to help you."

"Who?" he asked.

"Some business type man –I think he said his name was Hiyama something- and a teenage girl in a fancy school uniform. She probably goes to that big, fancy private school uptown. Poor girl had to run there in the rain, all alone." Meiko sighed.

"Did you get the girl's name?" Kaito asked. "I want to thank her."

"No name." Meiko shook her head. "She had these long green pigtails, pale-ish skin, really big blue eyes. How do you even plan to find her?"

"I'll wait outside the school gates until they leave, then I'll look for a girl like that." He said.

"What if there're lots of girls who look like that?" Meiko pointed out. "How are you supposed to know which one in her?"

"She'll recognize me, won't she?" Kaito showed his rare, lopsided grin. "If she's as nice as she seems, she'll acknowledge me when she sees me."

"There's no way you're doing that, Kaito." The café owner said, walking out of the kitchen. "You're not going anywhere until you get better."

"I'm fine, really." Kaito tried to stand up to prove his point, but failed, falling back into the booth the second he tried. Meiko raised an eyebrow at him, and he sighed in defeat. "Okay, so I'm not fine. What do you want me to do? Go to a hospital? I live in a box for God's sake!"

"We want you to stay here until you're in better shape." The owner explained. "You can sleep here. It's not like we actually get any real customers. The only people who come here are either broke or homeless. Our food is cheap and our hospitality is free."

Kaito laughed. The café owner was a kind man, always looking out for the less fortunate. He would sell to anyone who had money, and if he found someone in really bad shape, he would take them in, give them a hot meal, and let them rest until they were ready to head out again. Meiko was just as friendly, and she always made whoever came in feel welcome and loved. Her food did just the same, and she was always a treat to have around.

"How are you two planning on getting enough money to support yourselves if you keep giving away free food like this?" Kaito pointed out. "I feel bad like this, like I'm stealing from you two."

The owner laughed. "Well, this building is family owned, so the government can't take it away from us. We both live here, so we don't need to pay for apartments. I don't need to pay Meiko, since she's my daughter. We're perfectly fine."

"What about food? You're going to run out eventually."

"That's what all of our money goes into. We make enough to get enough for our few customers and ourselves. If more people knew about Meiko's cooking skills, we'd have much better business!"

Kaito laughed as Meiko twirled the dishrag she was holding with a satisfied grin.

"I am pretty good." She said, flicking the rag at her father, who caught it with a deep, throaty laugh.

"I think people are just too scared to eat in this part of town." Kaito pointed out. "They don't care how good Meiko is if you two aren't rich."

"Ah, forget the rich people." Meiko said, brushing Kaito's comment aside. "We have the power of the poor!" She placed one foot on a chair and pumped her fist in the air. Kaito and her father laughed at her girlish silliness; Meiko was a very charming and entertaining woman.

"What about water, electricity, and gas bills?"

"We have a few relatives pitching in to help us there." The owner explained.

"Well, as long as you two are getting by, I'll be fine." Kaito smiled. "I can always count on you to catch me when I fall."

"We didn't catch you this time." The owner reminded him. "It was those two rich people."

"See? Not all rich people are bastards!" Meiko added. "That Hiyama guy and the green haired kid were pretty helpful."

"Hiyama Kiyoteru," the owner recalled. "That was his name. I wish I had caught the girl's though."

"Ah well, we can worry about that later." Meiko laughed. "I'm gonna go out."

"Where to?" Kaito asked curiously.

"She always brings Gakupo his lunch while he's working in the music store." The owner explained. "He pays her there."

"Who's he?"

"He's a regular. I swear, this is the only place that man eats."

"It's not like he can afford to eat anywhere else." Meiko pointed out, a brown sack now in her hand. "We keep him alive."

"That's for sure." The owner agreed. "I just wish we could help him pay his rent. He's probably going to end up on the streets again."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that." Meiko said, shaking her head. "I'm just gonna bring him his lunch."

…

Lily awoke to the sound of someone shouting and banging on the brick walls. She sat up and looked around. There was no one there. The shouting grew louder, and she realized it was a man's voice. She followed the sound, crawling around the corner of the alley. She peeked around and saw a business type man. She was shouting and swearing at the top of his lungs while he banged a large leather briefcase against the brick wall of the building she had been sleeping next to.

The man was slightly frightening Lily, but she didn't flee. Instead, a plan hatched in her head. The man looked fairly wealthy, perhaps she could jump him and grab some money off of him. She didn't want to do it, but there was no way she could get money any other way, and she needed to feed her baby. For a second, she considered begging the man for help. But he looked angry beyond measure, possibly even deranged. There was no way he would be reasonable.

She crouched down low and started creeping up behind him. He was too engrossed in his own fury to notice her. She came closer…and closer…and….

Then fate played another cruel joke on Lily. She stepped on an empty water bottle, causing it to crumple with extreme volume. The man spun around and swung his briefcase, and for just a moment, time seemed to go in slow motion. She watched in horror as the crazed man swung the heavy looking case at her face. But what was even more frightening was the look of pure rage and insanity on the man's face as he attacked her. She closed her eyes and looked away, waiting for the impact of the heavy case against her head.

But it never came. She turned and saw the man covering his face in shame. He sank to his knees in shame, as if he was afraid of Lily. No, it was more as if he was afraid of himself.

…

Kiyoteru couldn't believe himself. Had he almost actually smashed the skull of the innocent homeless woman in front of him? She had done nothing wrong, but he, in a childish tantrum of pointless anger, had almost mortally wounded her with his briefcase.

He pulled his hands away from his face to see the woman looking at him with confusion and fear. She had large, frightened eyes, similar to a deer's when it is caught in the headlights of a car. She had long, tangled blond hair that was filled with dirt, bits of trash, and….jelly? Every inch of her body, from head to toe, was coated with dirt and grime. She looked just like every other homeless person he had seen lying around the streets, but why then, did she seem so _different? _It was as if he had seen her before, but couldn't remember from where.

"I'm so sorry." He said gently to the woman as he patted her filthy shoulder. He noticed her wince, so he stopped immediately. He had hurt her again, but physically this time. He felt indebted to her. "The least I can do is telling you my name. I'm Hiyama Kiyoteru."

"I….I'm Lily." The woman stuttered, looking somehow surprised. Kiyoteru guessed that she had been expecting him to just brush her aside or try to hurt her again. After all, he had just displayed himself as a violent and angry man, hadn't he?

"You don't need to be scared." He felt so bad for her, much worse than he had for anyone else in his life, even himself when he had failed to get the job. "I won't try to hurt you again. I don't know what came over me just now. Please, let me help you." He extended an arm. "Come with me. I just want to help you."

Lily stared at his extended arm nervously, obviously contemplating if she should accept it or not. He let her take her time; she had every right to after what he had done.

…

Lily was stunned. Didn't this man recognize her? He looked like someone who would watch the news, so why didn't he know who she was?

And why did he feel so indebted to her? All he had done was frighten her; he hadn't even actually harmed or injured her in any way.

She wondered if she should accept his help. She obviously needed it, not having any food, water, or shelter. She didn't know what he would do to help; she didn't even know if he actually planned to help her. But she needed help, as did her baby.

She sighed in defeat; she may have not wanted to accept his help, being who she was, but the pros outweighed the cons.

She accepted his hand, and they stood up together.

"Thank you, I needed help."

…

The minute Miku stepped off of the school grounds was the minute she saw her father. Actually, it was more like the second she saw the furious look on her father's face.

She was scared. She had always been pampered and spoiled by her father. He had never scolded her or shouted at her. She always did her best to follow rules, but how had he found out? It couldn't have been about being late, he wouldn't have looked so angry about that. It must have had something to do with her helping Kaito.

"Miku!" his attempts to hide the fury in his voice were futile. "Hatsune Miku! Get over here right now!"

Her schoolmates looked at her with fear and pity. It was obvious that certain doom awaited her, but she had no way to escape it. She sighed and walked toward her father's car in defeat; she had to, it was that or walk home in the rain.

She silently opened the car door and slid into the passenger seat. She hung her head and didn't acknowledge her father's presence. He rolled up the window and began driving. As soon as they were away from the school, he exploded.

"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE? WHY, IN GOD'S NAME, DID YOU GET OFF THE BUS AND RUN THROUGH THE RAIN LIKE THAT? YOU WERE LATE, YOU RUINED YOUR UNIFORM, AND SOMEONE COULD HAVE ATTACKED YOU! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN JUMPED! YOU COULD'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED! OR RAPED! OR KILLED! OR…."

"How did you…?"

"SOME OF THE MEN I WORK WITH SAW YOU AND TOLD ME. THAT'S WHY I CAME TO PICK YOU UP INSTEAD OF STAYING THERE! YOU ARE SUCH A…."

"I was helping a homeless man." Miku cut him off, turning to stare straight into her father's eyes. "He was dying on the sidewalk, so I went to help him." She thought this would ease her father's temper; to her dismay, though, it had the opposite effect.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND? HE COULD HAVE BEEN FAKING IT TO LURE YOU IN! THEN HE WOULD HAVE ATTACKED YOU AND RAPED YOU OR KILLED YOU OR…"

"But he didn't!" Miku interrupted again. "He didn't do anything to me! I just took him into a café where the people knew him and they took care of him. I had to run to school from there because the bus had left me behind."

Her father glared at her for a moment, filled to the brim with rage that his own daughter could be so careless. But after a minute, he sighed and began to calm down.

"I'm sorry princess. I just care about your safety is all. Just promise me that you won't do that ever again. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Miku stared at her father for a moment. She knew that he would never agree to her paying for Kaito to go to the hospital. He didn't even want her to go near him! She wanted so badly to go back to the café and see if he was alright, but if she told her father that she couldn't make that promise, he would do whatever he could to stop her from going back there.

"I promise. I'm sorry for scaring you papa."

"That's alright princess."

It was as if everything was back to normal, and none of it had ever happened. But Miku knew that something was changing, and she wanted to see that man.

She was determined to do it, no matter what her father said.

…

Gakupo practically died as soon as the two women walked into the store at the same time. The first he recognized; short brown hair, laughing brown eyes, old red t-shirt, ripped and faded red jeans, and black converse were Meiko's signature traits. She was holding a brown paper bag that Gakupo knew contained his lunch, and he was starving.

The second woman wasn't nearly as noticeable as the first. She wore a plain hoodie and jeans with old rubber running shoes. Her face was turned toward the floor, so he could see little of her features. The only distinction of her gender was the shape of her body, which stood out in her tight hoodie. The second she walked in, she hurriedly walked over to the punk section, obviously not wanting to be noticed. Nobody really looked at her, but she didn't stand out from anyone else in the store.

"Hey Gakupo!" Meiko's cheery voice brought him back to reality. She was holding lunch, and he was hungry. "Guess what I got?"

"A new pet capybara." Gakupo said sarcastically. He was always sarcastic with Meiko, but they were old friends. "Give it."

"What do you want with my capybara?" Meiko said, playing to his sarcasm.

"I want to sacrifice it to the spirit of my mother. Now hand it over!" he tried to act stern, but he couldn't help but laugh.

Meiko laughed along with him as she handed his lunch to him.

"Here, grilled ham sandwich on sourdough and more coffee. You gotta lay off the caffeine, dude."

"What do you expect? It's not like I can sleep in the situation I'm in." he reminded her as he pulled out his sandwich and bit into it. "Mmm, perfectly grilled as usual. Thanks a lot Meiko." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Here you go." He handed her the money.

"Thanks Gakupo." Meiko said with a nod. "You are one of the people who keep me and my dad's place running."

"You guys are the only place with cheap enough food for me to buy while I'm trying to pay off my debt. The manager here is nice, but this isn't exactly a well paying living."

"Well, I hope you find better luck." Meiko pocketed the money and turned to leave. "See you later!"

"See you!"

Meiko jogged out of the restaurant. Gakupo watched her go, his gaze lingering on the door before he turned to see the hooded woman standing right next to him.

"Gah!" he almost choked on his sandwich in surprise. He quickly regained his composure and looked at the woman. "Uh, do you need anything?"

"Are you Kamui Gakupo?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Are you a tax collector?"

"No."

"Yeah, I'm Gakupo."

"May I speak to you in private? It's about a business matter."

"Uh, sure."

He led her to the back room, which had so many cluttered boxes of CDs in it, there was hardly any room to move. The woman looked up from under her hood, revealing her makeup-less face.

"My name is Megurine Luka. I'm writing a factual book about human nature. My original plan was to study the various events I saw as I went through the city, but I can't find a way to fit it all together. That's why I need one specific test subject, someone who I can just follow around and study their behavior. I would then use this as my basis of data and compare the actions of other individuals to create an index of data to write about."

"Why do you want to write about me?" Gakupo was very confused. The woman was extremely bizarre.

"I was in the store this morning and noticed some interesting behavior toward a wealthier woman. I found you to be very interesting man and decided to ask this of you. It will be a full time job with payment for every hour you work with me."

"So, you just follow me around and study how I act, and then I get paid?"

"Well, we would test your behavior in different environments around different types of people and with varying stimuli. But that's the basics of it."

"Why do you want to write this book?"

The woman paused for a second, as if she was hesitant to say something. But she soon continued.

"I want money, and I figured that this idea was pretty original. Original books tend to sell, right?"

Gakupo looked at her strangely. She was even stranger than he had first thought, but she was willing to pay him. He needed money to pay his rent.

"How long will the job last?"

"Six months."

Gakupo was stunned. If she paid home for six months, he would be able to continuously pay his rent for that expanse of time.

"How much will you pay me per hour?"

"It all depends on the quality of your work."

He thought that over for a moment. He didn't know how harsh she would be about that. What if she paid him even less than he was making at that moment? Then again, he could just quit and go back to the music store if he didn't like it.

"Well, I guess there's only one thing left to say." He smiled, awaiting her reaction.

"Which is?"

"I'm in."

* * *

**Moar Questions!**

**What are Luka's plans as far as the relationship between her identity and Gakupo?**

**Why is Miku so determined to check up on a man she just met?**

**Why do you think I chose to make Luka's job last for six months? Think about how that span of time relates to the other characters.**

**Is it getting confusing with all the different overlapping storylines?**

**Why does Lily look so familiar to Kiyoteru?**

**What are Kiyoteru's plans so far as helping Lily?**

**Should I give the café owner a name? **

**What effect will Meiko's relationship with Gakupo and Kaito have on the story?**

**Are there any predictions you have about the story's future?**

**Are the chapters so far too short or too long?**

**Which character (based on their personality in this story, not prior knowledge of that particular Vocaloid) is your favorite?**

**Is there any reason for Kaito's over consideration for Meiko and her father?**

**What is your favorite Vocaloid duet combination? (I like the sound of Luka and Miku together)**

**Answer in a review please! Please? I'm begging you.**

**Look at this face O.O! You can't say no to that face!**

**REVIEW OR THE TINY FACE GETS IT!**

* * *

**O.O (WHAT?!)**


	4. Chapter 3: Awkward Conversations and

Chapter Three: Awkward Conversations and Getting Ready to Work

Miku was rushing to finish her homework. She had to get it done before the sun went down, because she wasn't allowed out after sunset, with few exceptions.

With a glance out of her bedroom window, she saw that it was getting late, and if she didn't leave soon, she wouldn't have any time to complete her task. She had to see him; she just needed some confirmation that he was alright.

She sighed and stood up from her desk; she could do homework later. She grabbed her small red purse from where she had set it on her bed and headed out of her room. She walked down the stairs to see her mother looking over some sheets of paper. She looked up when Miku walked in.

"Going somewhere?" she asked curiously.

"I'm going to meet some friends for dinner." Miku lied. She knew her mother wouldn't pry too much, that was just how she was. She was just glad she didn't have to explain herself to her father, who had gone back to work as soon as he dropped Miku off at home.

"Alright, just be back before dark." Her mother said, turning back to her papers. She wasn't big on worrying; she knew her daughter could handle herself.

"I will." Miku said, turning to leave. She grabbed her coat off a peg by the door and ran outside, pulling it on as she ran through the rain. She had to make it to the bus stop before she missed it. If she did, then there wouldn't be enough time to wait for the next bus.

…

Lily stood sheepishly next to Kiyoteru as they waited for the bus to come. There were powerful-looking businessmen standing all around them. Kiyoteru blended right in, but Lily stood out like a giraffe in a flock of sheep. She was the target of more confused and dirty looks than she found necessary, so she tried to hide behind her guide.

"Where are we going?" she asked him. "Do we have to take the bus?"

Kiyoteru laughed, not realizing her plight.

"We're going to my apartment, which is across town. So yes, we do need to take the bus. Do you have something against busses?"

"No, they have something against me." She said, trying to avoid the gaze of a tall, well-built man who was glaring at her. "Or, at least, their passengers do."

"Just relax, Lily." He said "If people are looking at you strangely, they have no right to. Just ignore them."

The bus arrived, and she silently followed Kiyoteru on. He handed the driver his bus pass and took her all the way to the back. Lily wondered why, but didn't question him. Soon she realized that most of the passengers were sitting toward the front of the bus, and that Kiyoteru had noticed her distress and taken the liberty to sit in the most secluded place in the bus.

"Thank you, again." Lily said. "But why are you doing this? You don't owe anything to me."

"I scared the shit out of you." He reminded her. "I was in the middle of a childish tantrum over something pointless. I couldn't have just left you there, you're obviously starving. And your baby needs to eat too."

Lily gasped "How did you know I was…?"

"You're starving, but there's still a bulge in your stomach. It was pretty obvious."

"Oh," Lily looked at the floor as the bus began to move. Of course he had noticed that, how could he not have? Could she really have hoped that he wouldn't notice? But he still hadn't said anything about her former…occupation.

They spent the rest of the ride in silence, Lily staring at the floor and Kiyoteru out the window. Neither knew what to say to the other, it being that they were so different; they were practically from different universes. How long would it take before he realized who she was? Why did frightening her make him feel the need to feed her and her unborn child? He didn't know her; they had never met before in their lives. Was there some sort of attachment he felt to her? But how could a thing like that be possible between the two of them?

The feeling of a gentle hand on her shoulder pulled Lily out of her thoughts and back to the bus. She looked up to see Kiyoteru standing in front of her with his hand on her shoulder. It was soft and warm on her shoulder, which had nothing covering it except the thin strap of her tank-top.

"We're getting off now, Lily." He said to her blank face. "That means you have to stand up."

Lily stood and followed Kiyoteru to the front of the bus and down the stairs. They were in a richer part of the city that Lily had never been to before. Every building was tall and professional-looking. Every window was gleaming with cleanliness and lacked the grime that always coated windows she had seen. Almost every person in sight had either flamboyantly stylish outfits or tight, businessman-like clothing. There were still homeless people to be seen all over the place, but they were almost unnoticeable compared to everything else.

Kiyoteru led her into one of the large buildings. Stepping inside, she immediately saw a beautiful lobby that was practically made of gold and velvet. It was obviously fake gold, but the velvet was softer than anything Lily had felt in her whole life, not to mention that it was a beautiful shade of blood red. They walked into an elevator, which had doors made of an elaborate, gilded cherry wood. The number of buttons on the inside was insane, but predictable considering the great height of the building. The elevator rose to the floor just below the top floor, and Kiyoteru led her through a beautiful hall to his apartment.

"This place is amazing! It's like a hotel!" Lily said in awe. "Not like I've even been in a hotel. But when I was a kid, I saw them on TV!"

"I come from a wealthy family." Kiyoteru explained, stating the obvious. "My parents are giving me the money to pay for the apartment until I get a steady job." He stopped in front of one of the doors and pulled out a key, which he used to unlock the door. Lily walked inside, her jaw hanging open. She began wandering around, exploring the several rooms the apartment.

"My God! When I was a kid, I lived in a one room apartment with a dirty carpet, one bed, a broken sink, a tiny TV, and an ice chest. This is insane!"

"Please, make yourself at home. You should probably take a shower first, and you're welcome to use anything in there."

He showed her to the bathroom and explained how to work the faucet. As soon as he was gone, she locked the door and made sure there was no way he could peep on her before undressing and turning on the hot water. The second she stepped into the pleasantly heated spray, she released a long sigh of pleasure. She had never showered before, and it was more pleasant than she had ever imagined. When she had lived with her parents, all they got to clean themselves was a bucket of cold water and a sponge. When she had gone to work as a prostitute, they had worked from a stuffy apartment in an old building. The only cleaning they had gotten was every other week they would fill a bathtub with cold water and the girls would each have a short amount of time to clean themselves. But this was completely different! The water was hot and she had as much time as she wanted. She could actually get herself thoroughly cleaned.

After standing in the spray for a minute, Lily began to look through the hygiene products on the small metal rack that was nailed into the shower wall. She grabbed a bottle with a picture of a man scrubbing his hair with a sort of foam. It seemed to make sense, so she turned the bottle upside down and squeezed a thick blue liquid into her hand. She started to scrub it into her hair, rubbing it first on her scalp then all down her long hair. She spent a few seconds scrubbing the bits of food and mud out of her hair before she finally rinsed it. She then grabbed a small comb and yanked it through her tangles and split ends. When that had finally ended, she grabbed a bar of soap (the only product she was familiar with) and began scrubbing away the dirt and grime that covered her entire body.

By the time she finished, the water was much cooler than it had first been, so she turned it off. She stepped out of the shower and grabbed one of the many white towels under the sink. It had the softness of a rabbit's fur and was so pleasant to rub against her body that she forgot that she had been drying herself. Eventually she wrapped her body and hair in separate towels and walked out of the bathroom.

When she walked out, she wandered into the kitchen, expecting Kiyoteru to be there. But all that she saw was an empty, spotless kitchen. There was a piece of paper on the counter with something written on it in large letters, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure out what it said. She sighed and walked into the bedroom, where she saw his large, comfortable looking, queen sized bed. She immediately flopped down on the bed, practically sinking into the soft sheets, and was almost instantly asleep.

…

"Hello?"

Meiko, her father, and Kaito all looked up as the pigtailed teenager entered the café. The owner immediately walked up to her and shook her hand.

"It's so wonderful to see you again! I didn't catch your name before though, may I have the privilege of knowing it?"

"Hatsune Miku." The turquoise-headed girl said with a friendly smile. "But you don't need to be so polite and formal."

"Sorry, I'm just so happy to meet such a generous young lady. You saved Kaito's life earlier."

"So that's her?" Kaito asked from where he sat in the booth. It was the same place he had been lied down in that morning.

"You're awake!" Miku noted. "That's good. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, really." Kaito said, pushing away her concern. "But thank you so much for what you did. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead right now."

"It was nothing, really." Miku blushed. Compliment always embarrassed her, from her parents or otherwise. "I suppose anyone else would've done the same."

Meiko snorted from where she was slicing a loaf of bread.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna marry a rich prince and live happily ever after."

"I'm serious." Miku said. "There are lots of helpful people out there."

"What rock have you been living under? Ninety nine percent of the upper class people in this city would've left him to die there in the street. You're a priest compared to them, Miku."

Kaito looked at Miku. She was obviously stunned at the information, which Kaito found hard to believe. Had she really lived so sheltered a life that she didn't know what kind of people made up the world? Didn't she know anything beyond music, academics, and fashion magazines? If that was the case, he truly envied her. Who in his situation wouldn't?

"Well, as long as I'm here, I might as well get something." Miku changed the subject, evidently uncomfortable with the current one. "Do you guys have a menu or something?"

"Yeah, hold on a moment." Meiko came out from behind the counter and handed Miku a laminated, colorful paper with the food options. "Here," she said as she handed Miku the menu.

"Hmm," Miku was silent for a moment before making her choice. "Can I have a large club sandwich on whole wheat bread with a basket of fries?"

"That's a lot of food for a skinny little girl." Meiko observed. "You sure you don't want something smaller?"

"No. I may eat a lot, but I work out all the time."

"Alright," she obviously wasn't convinced, but wasn't going to argue with Miku if she was willing to pay. "Drink?"

"Just water." She said, sliding into the booth Kaito was sitting in. She looked at him from across the table. "Hi."

"Uh, hi"

"Your name's Kaito, right?"

"Yeah, and you're Miku."

"Yep. What are your plans after you're well enough to leave this place?"

"I don't really have any. Why? Do you have any suggestions?"

"No, just wondering."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments after that. Neither knew just what to the other, it being that they had just met. Miku tried to create conversation several times, but it was always either something Kaito didn't know about or didn't care about, so she just gave up after a minute.

Meiko arrived with an enormous sandwich, a basket of fries, and a tall glass of water. Miku hungrily dug in, taking large, slow bites out of her sandwich, savoring the delicious flavors that filled the sandwich.

"Mmm, this is amazing, Meiko!" she said, taking another large bite. "I'm gonna have to come here more often! What's the spread?"

"I used two different condiments, both of my own making." Meiko said proudly. "The top slice of bread has my own special lemon-mayonnaise, and the bottom has my barbecue-ranch sauce."

"You're amazing Meiko! If the word got out somehow, there would be more customers here than anywhere else in the city!" Miku praised.

Meiko smiled and puffed up with pride. Miku turned back to her food and noticed the look on Kaito's face. He has staring at the half of her sandwich that was still sitting in the basket with a look that the wolf must've worn when he saw little red riding hood. He was practically drooling over the food! Miku grinned.

"Here" she pushed the basket toward him and took another bite out of her half of the club sandwich. "You need it more than I do."

Kaito wanted to tell her that it was unnecessary and that he didn't need to take food from her, but his hunger overtook him and he delved into the flavorful food. Miku –as she ate her own half- watched him wolf down the colossal dish in what seemed like seconds. He never had been able to afford one of Meiko's clubs, especially not a large one with multiple homemade condiments. He turned and watched as Miku finished her half and sipped her water, absently snacking on her fries.

Just for a moment, their eyes met as they watched each other. Two pairs of blue eyes from two entirely different backgrounds stared right into one another, both searching for some sign of admiration. But the owners of the eyes glanced away mere seconds after the connection. Each had been searching for a different reason, but hoping to avoid the notice of the other. Kaito had been hoping to find the reason for this turquoise haired girl saving his life and giving him half of her sandwich, so he had looked for a sign of possible admiration. Miku had been hoping to find if this blue headed man actually wanted her to be sitting there and trying to talk to him, or if she was just an annoyance.

Both searches were in vain, considering that each had caught the other searching their eyes and had looked away before they could truly analyze the emotions in each other's blue eyes.

Meiko noticed the connection and laughed, not wanting the situation to become any more awkward for anyone.

"Oh, here." Miku pulled out her wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

Meiko gave her the price and Miku smiled, handing the woman the cash. When Meiko counted through it, her eyes practically bugged out of her head.

"This is over twice what you owe! You don't need to be so generous, Miku!"

"You need it more than I do." Miku pointed out. "Besides, I told my mom I was going out to eat with some friends, and most places we would eat at would charge much more than this place."

"You are way too generous with your tip!" the owner said as Meiko handed him the money. "I insist you take back at least half of the original price!"

"Stop it! You're keeping everything I gave you. I'm better at getting my way than anyone, so I suggest you don't try to argue with me."

The owner laughed at the idea of the polite, generous little girl with long pigtails ever acting unpleasantly; however, he gave in and pocketed the money, assuring Miku that it would be put to good use.

…

Gakupo walked away from the music store with a slight spring in his step. He had worked everything out with Luka and his manager, who had assured him that he could take his job back whenever he needed to, even if it be in six months. He and Luka had agreed that they were going to start working the next day, so he was headed to the café for dinner.

When he walked in, the first thing he noticed was Kaito and Meiko talking and laughing with a girl Gakupo had never seen before. She had long green pigtails and bright blue eyes. Her skin was on the paler side, but not Voldemort white. Her face was practically built for smiling and laughter, something that he saw her face doing a lot of when he looked through the window. They hadn't noticed him yet, so he decided to enter and get himself out of the rain.

"Hey Gakupo!" Meiko said in her pleasant way as she saw him walk in. "You look happy."

"I just got a job offer that will get me enough money to pay my rent." He said, flashing a grin. "I'm helping some lady do research about human nature for some book she's writing."

"That's great news!" the owner cried. "Congratulations Gakupo!"

"So you're the famous Gakupo?" Kaito asked. His voice was deep and sweet, just like when Gakupo had heard him sing. "Nice ponytail."

"It's fabulous isn't it?" Gakupo joked, looking in Miku's direction. "Who's she?"

"She's the girl who helped Kaito this morning." Meiko explained. "I told you that not all rich people were shit."

"Well excuse my bad experiences with them." Gakupo raised his hands in mock surrender as his voice gained a sarcastic and rude edge to it. "It isn't my fault that most of the ones I've met treated me and every other person like us like trash."

He glared at the girl, expecting her to get up and fight back with that haughty, high and mighty attitude most upper-class people had. But she just stared at the table in front of her, not saying a word.

"Give her a break, ponytail." Kaito said, leaning in the purple haired man's direction. He obviously was unable to stand or fight, so Gakupo felt unthreatened.

"Give her a break? What do you expect from me, or did they not tell you?" he pointed in the direction of Meiko and her father, who remained silent. "Huh, I didn't think so."

"A lot of people have been through the same things as you, Gakupo." Kaito reminded him. "At least you have a home, and now a good job. Your past can't hurt you if you just stop reminding yourself of it!"

"Don't you talk about my past when you know nothing about it!" Gakupo shouted. He was truly enraged, his fury building up until he just couldn't contain it any longer. "It's her kind that made my life living hell all those years ago! You're a traitor to the rest of us for hanging around with her like this." He turned his accusing finger toward the girl, who was still staring at the table, quietly eating her fries.

"Miku didn't do anything to you!" Kaito argued. "Whatever you went through, she wasn't a part of it, so will you drop the stereotypes?"

"Kaito." Meiko's sudden sharp tone stopped Kaito mid-rant. "Stop. Just leave the man alone."

Kaito opened his mouth, as if to fight back, but thought better of it and fell silent.

Gakupo sternly ordered his food and went to sit as far from Kaito and Miku as he possibly could. He watched as they quietly ate from a basket of fries, not saying a word to each other.

As soon as Meiko had finished his food, he snatched it off the counter, replaced it with the money, and marched out of the restaurant.

…

Kiyoteru walked into his apartment, two shopping bags in hand. He looked around, not seeing Lily anywhere. He searched the kitchen and found the note he'd left for her in a different place then he'd left it, so she must have read it.

When he walked into his bedroom, he saw her asleep on his bed, rolled up in a towel like a caterpillar in a chrysalis. Her hair had been tied up in a towel, but now was a pile of tangles on top of the unfolded towel. His eyes widened when he realized that the towel was all she was wearing. He quickly recovered and set the bags at the foot of the bed before quietly leaving the room.

He went into the kitchen and looked over the note he'd written her.

_Lily-_

_I went out to get you a surprise. When I get back we can go out for something to eat. What's mine is yours, so feel free to use whatever you need._

_-Kiyoteru_

He shrugged upon reading over it and turned to throw it away. It didn't matter much anyway.

…

The sound of the door closing immediately woke Lily, causing her to slowly sit up, rubbing her eyes. She looked around and saw the bags Kiyoteru had left for her. She looked inside and saw that they were filled with different pieces of clothing, even underwear. Some of them were fashionable and expensive looking, but there were also simple plain t-shirts and jeans. Lily went for those, it being that she was more comfortable with that than a frilly, revealing blouse and a fringed short skirt.

When she had gotten herself dressed, she reached back and scratched her head, only to realize that her hair was a mess. She sighed, knowing that she would have to go through the process of yanking the comb through it again. She walked out of the bedroom and headed for the bathroom.

"You feel better?" Kiyoteru asked her as she passed. "I just guessed your size, but I hope it's okay, especially with your baby."

"The clothes are great. Thanks," Lily said, walking into the bathroom.

"So, you read my note?" he asked, following her in.

"No."

"No?"

"I can't read." Lily said sadly as she picked up a slightly larger comb and began jerking it through her hair.

"Oh, I'm sorry for bringing it up then."

"It's fine, it's not like that matters when I live the way I do."

"Oh," he came up behind her and gently took the comb, starting to untangle her hair himself, but he did it much gentler. "You need a haircut. This is just ridiculous."

"Like I have the time or money for that."

"We could do it after dinner."

"I think the shops would be closed by then, so it would be a little late to go out for a haircut."

"That's right. What about tomorrow?"

"Can we talk about this later? I'm hungry."

"Sure." He finished off the last of the knots in her hair and set the comb back on the sink. "I have a place in mind."

"Oh, you don't have to pay to go to a restaurant!" Lily protested. "You've already done so much for me, you even bought me clothes!"

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I let a pregnant woman eat whatever crap I try to cook instead of actual food from a restaurant? As for the clothes, I may have gone a bit overboard, but you can't just go around in those old, dirty, torn rags you were wearing."

Lily sighed, knowing that he was set on taking her out. So she stopped objecting and grabbed her old rubber flip-flops and slipped them onto her feet.

"You need better shoes than that!" Kiyoteru said, stopping her. "Those can't protect your feet or keep them warm or dry. I got you a pair of sneakers, where are they?"

"But I like these shoes."

"Don't be stupid, you know those won't be any help to you! How are they even comfortable?"

"They're not."

"Then why do you like them?"

"I dunno."

Kiyoteru shook his head at the woman's lack of reasoning. He snatched her flip-flops and the rest of her old clothes and took them into the kitchen, where he dropped them into the trash bin. Lily didn't protest, she just watched him before going back into the bedroom to get shoes and socks to wear. It wasn't as if she could go barefoot, right?

…

"Yeah mom. We're meeting to work tomorrow." Luka said into the phone she was balancing between her shoulder and her ear as she ate the dinner she had ordered via room service. "He was pretty nice about it actually; I guess he needed money pretty badly."

"That's great news, Luka!" her mother exclaimed. "I hope the book comes out as well as you were planning!"

"Thanks mom. Call you later."

"Bye!"

Luka hung up the phone and set it on the desk next to her plate of food. She had just related the story of how she had asked spoken to Gakupo and gotten him to work for her. Although she had conveniently left out the part about her dressing differently so that he would think she was a different person. She was now in the process of coming up with the answers to any questions Gakupo might have for her.

If he asked where she was getting the money to pay him, she'd say that it came from a side job she had kept for a while before coming to the city.

If he asked where she had lived before this, she would say another city a few miles north.

If he asked her about her family, she would tell him that her mother was an elementary school nurse and her father was dead. She would also tell him that her younger sister was back at home, still in school.

She had everything prepared for the next day, so it was time for her to just relax and eat. But she couldn't relax with the constant worrying that she would be found out before the job ended. She had tried to tell herself that she would tell him as soon as she trusted him enough, but she knew that it was just another white lie she was telling herself. There was no way she would get up the courage to say something like that to him, especially after the way she had treated her that morning.

She turned to look out at the setting sun; it would be night soon, and she needed to be ready to meet Gakupo early in the morning the next day. She groaned; she had a long, hard six months ahead of her.

* * *

**I was busy, so sorry for the late update! Think of it this way; I was up all night writing this for you ungrateful little potatoes, so don't give me any crap about it seeming lazily written (I'm tired as fuck right now) or being late.**

* * *

**Time for Questions!**

**Why can't Lily read?**

**Why does Gakupo stand by his persistent hatred for the upper class?**

**Are you enjoying this story so far?**

**If Luka feels so uncomfortable and shy around Gakupo, how was she able to offer him the job so easily?**

**Do you think I have a horrible sleep pattern? I was up until five in the morning writing this, and didn't go to sleep after. (Meh, I can sleep when I'm dead. Besides, I like to watch the sunrise.)**

**Is Lily's pregnancy the real reason for Kiyoteru's sympathy? Why or why not?**

**Did the beginning of the story sound choppy of lazy? I think it did, but I couldn't find a way to change it so that it wouldn't.**

**Why did Meiko silence Kaito in the café? **

**Why did Kaito defend Miku from Gakupo? Could it have something to do with the sandwich?**

**Did I write too much about food? I was kinda hungry while writing this...**

**Why did Miku fall silent after Gakupo's accusations?**

**Would you like a coconut pancake? (Damn you hunger!)**

* * *

**Answer questions and/or give your opinion on the story in a review!**


	5. Chapter 4: Sunset, Sunrise, a New Day

Chapter Four: Sunset, Sunrise, and a New Day

"Look at that sunset." The café owner said with admiration. "They really are beautiful here."

Suddenly Miku looked up in shock. Her face turned white and her mouth dropped open

"Oh shit."

"What is it?" Meiko asked.

"Sunset." Miku explained as she gathered up her things. "I'm supposed to be home by dark. I'm going to be late if I take the bus!"

"Well, bye." Meiko said, surprised by Miku's sudden urgency. She had been so relaxed just a minute ago. Miku waved goodbye as she rushed out of the café to the bus stop.

"What was that?" she asked, turning back to her father and Kaito. "Just a minute ago she seemed so….."

"Different?" Kaito suggested. Meiko nodded before he continued. "Yeah, I thought so too. Maybe she just doesn't want her parents to stop her from coming here. She said that she told her parents she was out with friends, so they probably don't want her around people like us."

"You're right." The owner agreed. "Just because she's a better person, doesn't mean her family is."

"Yeah." Meiko nodded and picked up Miku's empty fry basket, sandwich basket, and water glass. She carried them into the kitchen, disappearing from view. Kaito and the owner sat in silence for a moment, not knowing what to say. When Meiko came back, she went behind the counter and grabbed a box of wipes. She started walking from table to table, cleaning each one. It wasn't like a normal restaurant, where she would have been wiping away food, but instead she was wiping away the dust of another day of the tables going unused. It was kind of sad to watch, so Kaito leaned back and lied down in the booth.

"You alright?" the owner asked him.

"Yeah, just a headache. My stomach also feels a little weird, but that's probably because it's not used to having so much food in it at one time." Kaito stared at the ceiling of the dimly lit room, rubbing his stomach absently. How long had it been since he had actually eaten a full meal? He felt so satisfied, but he also felt something strange. A sort of longing that began the moment Miku had grabbed her things and left. He hadn't ever felt like that before; could he really be…..

No, it was an absurd thought. They had literally just met; there was no way she could have any sort of attraction to him, but why did he feel one toward her? He shook his head at how disgusting and sick it all was. He was twenty one, and she couldn't have been any older that sixteen. It was not only illegal, but the thought of his attraction to her was just plain repulsive, even to him. She had only helped him out of the kindness in her heart, something Kaito himself had never had. But was her age the only reason Kaito was putting his emotions toward her from his mind?

He thought back to the last time he had felt attracted to a woman. She had been beautiful, kind hearted, sweet tempered, and just an all-around wonderful person. They had met in a strange twist of fate, when she had taken the wrong train and found him unconscious under a bench on the train station platform. She had saved his life, just like Miku had. She had helped him for weeks, feeding him and buying him clothing. But things had gone horribly wrong, and she was gone now.

Now he felt as if everything was happening over again. It was like his life was repeating itself, and he didn't want the same thing to happen to Miku. He had made some mistakes, and now he felt as if they were going to be made all over again.

_No, I just have to forget about her. It's not like I'm going to see her again, right? I need to just put all thought of her from my mind. She was just another nice person, a nice person who just happened to see me on the ground._

Kaito sighed and closed his sea blue eyes. He drifted off to the sounds of cars and shouting people, just like every night.

…

As the sun set, Kiyoteru led Lily through the city to a surprise location. She had pestered him about it the entire elevator ride and half the walk, but he never gave in. They walked through the shopping area of town, allowing her to see the many colorful shops and bright, neon advertisements. There were street performers, stands selling various accessories and foods, delicious aromas wafting through the air, everything Lily had always dreamed of. When she saw a small, brightly colored shop that she could see people eating ice cream inside. She started to wander toward it, but was stopped when Kiyoteru grabbed her hand, restraining her. She sighed as he dragged her along to a small shop with big, bold words on a sign above the door. Lily had no idea what they might've said, but Kiyoteru's face lit up when he saw it.

"This is the place." He said, pulling her toward it. "You'll love it, I guarantee."

They walked inside, and Lily saw that it wasn't a fancy restaurant, but it wasn't a roadside diner either. Kiyoteru walked up to the small podium at the front of the restaurant with a beautiful young woman standing behind it.

"Hiyama, reservation for two." He said pleasantly.

"Right this way, sir." The woman led them through the beautiful and colorful maze of tables and plastic plants. She showed them to a smaller table with two chair on either side. Kiyoteru thanked her and the two of them sat down. The hostess handed each of them a menu and strolled away.

"I'll order for the both of us." Kiyoteru offered. "There aren't any pictures on the menu."

"Fine." Lily crossed her arms and grunted. She wanted to feel like she and Kiyoteru were equals, but that was hard when he could read and she couldn't. She was mad, but she knew she shouldn't be mad at him. He was only trying to help, and it wasn't his fault that she was illiterate.

When the waitress came, Kiyoteru ordered drinks for the both of them and pointed to the options on the menu that he wanted for them, obviously wanting to surprise Lily. She crossed her arms, frustrated with his constant secrecy. Why was it that the secrets he kept got to be so annoyingly unimportant, but her secrets were just a, ever growing vine of her torturous past?

They sat in silence until the waitress brought their drinks, which was when Kiyoteru groaned and broke the silence.

"Just because we're from different backgrounds, doesn't mean that we can't sit here together and have a conversation like adults."

"What do we have to say to each other? This isn't a date or anything. I really am grateful that you bought me clothes and took me out, but we don't need to act like we're friends."

"Why can't we be friends?"

"What will that do? It's just one night, then I'm back on the streets. So is there any point?"

"Who says I'm just gonna jump you back out there after tonight?"

"You seriously can't be thinking that you can just keep me in your house like a stray cat or something. If you knew who I was, you would WANT to just dump me."

"I have never, in my life, judged anyone based on their past, and I intend to keep it that way."

"Why? I don't understand what you're gaining from all this!"

"Honor."

"If you lived in the world I did, you would know that honor doesn't mean shit if giving it up means you get what you want."

"What would a man want that would involve mistreating a young lady?"

Lily clammed up the second the words were out of the man's mouth. She knew exactly what the answer was, but just the thought of it brought back the memories. The horrible memories of that dark, stuffy apartment where she and a dozen other poverty-stricken girls had subjected themselves to….

"Lily?"

Lily shook her head, trying to ignore the memories, but it was in vain. She tried to look straight at Kiyoteru and talk to him in the hope that conversing with him would make the sudden flow of memories go away.

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright? You spaced out for a moment, and you're sweating."

"I'm fine, I just feel a bit hungry. I haven't eaten in a while."

"Well, here comes our food, so just wait a moment."

The waitress came and placed a beautifully carved wooden box in front of each of them. Lily's eyes grew huge, realizing where they were.

"A bento? This is one of those bento places?"

"Yep,"

"You didn't have to…"

"I wanted to. Open it."

Lily carefully removed the beautiful wooden lid and was greeted by a fragrance of pure pleasure. The box was tightly packed with rice balls wrapped in wasabi seaweed, slices of salmon, fried prawn with some sort of sticky sauce Lily wasn't familiar with, different kinds of grilled vegetables in the same sauce, and packets of different sauces with labels that she couldn't understand. She looked at Kiyoteru, unsure what to do. He just smiled at her and started to eat from his own box. She tried to eat as calmly and neatly as he did, but as soon as she took her first bite, she dove into the food like an animal, wolfing it down with intense delight. She looked up every once and a while to see Kiyoteru watching her, but he only smiled with pleasure. He didn't look disgusted by her lack of manners or amused at her primitive behavior. He just seemed happy that she was finally eating.

When her food was gone, Lily looked up to see that Kiyoteru was only half finished with his food. She suddenly felt ashamed of herself for acting the way she had as she had eaten her food. But there was no one sitting near them to see her manners that would make any stuffy old woman faint.

The thing was, she wasn't sure if she had been stuffing herself to satisfy her hunger from not eating a thing that day. Sure, she had been hungry, but there had been more to it than that. The moment she had taken that first bite, it had taken her mind away from the horrible memories that had been haunting her. She had indulger her senses with the bright, dazzling flavors of the food in her bento just to distract herself from the repulsive images of the past. But the memories had been momentarily subdued, not erased. They had been waiting patiently to strike her when she let her guard down again, which she had. It was like a plant that had sprouted in her brain, and was quickly and painfully spreading its thorny vines through her head and down to her stomach, where it began to churn and shake what used to be the contents of her bento. She grimaced at the feeling and began to lean forward, clutching her child.

"What's wrong?" Kiyoteru asked urgently, noticing her distress.

"I….it…." Lily opened her mouth to stutter further, but instead of words coming out of her mouth, a stream of vomit flowed out. Lily continued to spew bile repeatedly, and Kiyoteru watched, waiting for it to be over. When she had finished, she just sat there, hunched over, staring at what had once been food all over the floor.

"Are you done?" it wasn't asked harshly.

Lily suddenly burst into tears, burying her head in her arms that were crossed over the table. Kiyoteru stood and came to her side, patting her shoulder.

"It's alright. Don't worry; I'll get someone to come clean it up. It's just because you ate so fast with your baby in there, okay?"

These words only made Lily sob even harder. He didn't get it, he thought her being sick was just due to the food, not the horrible thoughts of the previous years. He had no idea what she had been through, his past must have been paradise compared to hers. For a second, the thought about telling him the truth. It would allow her to confide in someone, which might make her feel better and give her some degree of comfort. But she immediately shook the idea away, knowing that he would most likely just shun her and dump her on the side of the road or something, just like everyone else had. That was when she realized that he was the only person in the world who had been kind to her, giving her his trust and kindness. It was obviously only because he was a kind man, but it made her feel as if her unforgivable actions hadn't all been for nothing.

"C'mon, let's get you back to my place." Kiyoteru put an arm around her and helped her stand. He supported her as he dropped money on the table and left the restaurant. She stared at the ground as he led her to the street and over to a bus stop. He supported her onto the bus and all the way to the back, setting her down in the seat.

She felt horrible, and she wanted to continue crying. But she held herself together, not wanting to make a fool of herself in front of the other bus passengers. She didn't even want to look at Kiyoteru, afraid that he would think she was crazy or something. She just stared at the same floor as earlier that day, waiting for it all to be over.

…

Miku walked into her house expecting an angry storm of questions from her parents, but upon walking in, the entire house was quiet. The lights were on, so her parents were obviously home.

"Mama?" she called. "Papa?"

This was not normal. Her parents weren't quiet or shy people, they made a reasonable amount of noise when they were home. They weren't fireworks or anything, but they weren't mice either.

"We're in here." Her mother's voice was calling from the living room. It sounded strangled and hoarse, as if she had been crying. Miku ran into the room, her heart filled with fear. Her mother never cried unless the situation was horrible.

"Mama! Papa! What's wrong?" she asked when she entered. She saw that her father was holding her mother, both their faces stained with tears. They looked at her as if she had just been run over by a car. "Why are you looking at me like I'm a dead body or something?"

At the word dead, her mother burst into a fit of uncontrolled sobbing. Her father held onto her tightly, patting her back. Miku looked at them strangely, and he waved her over. She walked slowly and unsurely, as if on a tightrope. Her parents pulled her into the embrace and her father whispered in her ear, saying something that caused Miku's face to turn as white as a sheet and her hand to slowly and involuntarily float to her chest. Tears filled her eyes and flowed down her cheeks, and a single sob burst from her throat, followed by dozens more.

_No, it can't be true! It just can't be, not with everything going so well in my life! There must have been a mistake, there just must have been._

Miku stayed there in her parent's arms, knowing that they wanted to hold her as long as they could. They were obviously just as shocked and terrified as she was, and she felt ready to faint.

They sobbed and hugged for what must've been an hour, until Miku finally broke the embrace, saying that she needed some time alone to take everything in.

…

Kiyoteru lied Lily down on the couch and went into his bedroom. She had fallen asleep on the bus and he hadn't had the heart to wake her. He had carried her to his apartment on his back, making him the receiver of many strange looks from onlookers.

He flopped down on his bed, grabbing a book to read. It was a novel, and he was halfway through to the end. He was truly engaged in the book, but was surprisingly unable to focus due to his concerns about Lily. After a moment, he found himself pacing up and down his room, trying to think about something other than the pregnant woman's sudden vomit attack. But his constant curiosity was not to be stifled.

Why had it happened? Surely it couldn't have been just from gorging herself after a day without eating. He hadn't believed the assurances he had given her, they had just been a method of calming her down so that there would be no further effect on her or the fetus. It could have been caused by a number of things; some sort of undetected virus she had picked up from living in unsanitary conditions all her life, a result of some sort of physical or emotional trauma, possible food poisoning, some sort of altered version of morning sickness, etc. The possibilities were endless.

He finally gave up with a sigh and fell back onto his bed, deep in thought. He was worried about her, although he wasn't exactly sure why. It could have been something as simple as food poisoning or just plain eating way too much, so why was he worrying that there was something else behind it?

He sighed and picked up the novel again, knowing that –even if there was something wrong with Lily- there was no point in worrying about it. It wouldn't help her in any way, so what was the purpose?

…

Luka woke before dawn the next morning, shivering from the cold draft that had entered through her open window. Unlike Miku had, she just stood up and went to close the window like an average person. She yawned, stretching her body inside her tank top and sweatpants. She walked into the bathroom to find that her hair was a complete rat's nest. She groaned, knowing that it only meant yanking the hair brush through it in the same painful way as every morning. It was only because her hair was so wavy and layered that it tangled so easily and so painfully.

When her hair was brushed, she braided it into two braids that went down her back. She pulled on a black beanie, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and left the bathroom. She pulled on a solid white long-sleeved t-shirt she had bought the previous night after her meeting with Gakupo along with a pair of jeans from the same excursion. She grabbed her hoodie she had worn the previous night and a small backpack she had also just bought. She threw her notepad, a water bottle, and a few other random things she felt she might need.

Slinging the pack over her shoulder, she walked out of her room and into the hallway. She walked slowly, making sure to keep every step quiet, for almost every door handle was adorned with a "Do Not Disturb" sign. She crept her way to the elevator, cringing at the loud ding it made when the doors opened. She looked around, hoping she hadn't woken anyone, and stepped through the doors and into the tiny room of glass.

The elevator took her to the ground floor, where she put up her hood and silently walked across the lobby and out the revolving door. She started her trek toward the park, where she had decided she would meet Gakupo. The morning chill bit at her exposed hands, but she ignored it, enjoying the small amount of people and the faint sunlight. She walked along the sidewalk, seeing only a few businessmen and some homeless people. For every person she saw, Luka stopped and took out a small lunchbox from her bag. She had filled it with sandwiches the previous night, and was giving them away to every homeless man, woman, or child she saw. Every one of them gave her the same shocked look when she handed them the food, as if they we're sure if it was real or some sick joke. But after a moment, they would all eat the sandwich and thank her for her kindness.

She made her way to the park, and walked through the welded metal archway that acted as an entrance. She walked across the bright green grass, looking around at the deep green of the tree leaves that came in late summer. The sky was a clear pale blue, not a single cloud in sight, the complete opposite of the previous day. She knew that Gakupo wouldn't be there for a while, so she found a wooden bench near the playground where they had promised to meet and sat down. Although it was a relief after walking for so long, the bench was painfully cold and wet with morning dew. Luka shivered but didn't move, despite the moisture seeping into her jeans.

She leaned back on the bench and closed her eyes, breathing in the sweet morning air. This was her time of day, the time when almost everyone was still asleep, but she could be wandering free around. Back at home, she had always woken before anyone else and gone on long walks through the woods near her house. She found had found it calming and satisfying, always making her feel happy. She was truly a morning person.

…

Gakupo walked into the park, his long ponytail flowing in the breeze. The wind had a light chill to it, but it was more refreshing than it was uncomfortable. He felt completely relaxed. He had never gotten up so early before, but it was because he had always found sleeping in to be pleasurable. But now he was realizing how –after dragging himself out of bed and forcing himself to get ready- he could feel so at ease. It was the feeling that the day had not yet begun, and there were no troubles or hardships to face.

He made his way to the fountain in the center of the park where he and Luka had arranged their meeting. When he arrived there, he didn't notice anyone around, and figured that she hadn't arrived yet. Then, on closer inspection, he noticed a hooded figure sitting on one of the park benches. At first he had taken it to be another homeless person, then he realized that the person was wearing the same hoodie that Luka had been wearing the previous day.

He approached the individual, wondering if he was correct about it being his employer.

"Megurine Luka?"

He had come close enough now to see the woman's eyes open at the sound of her name. She sat up on the bench, looking in his direction. She looked slightly surprised, but smiled and stood, approaching rather quickly. They shook hands and she pulled her notepad out of her backpack.

"Let's get started." She said. "First I want to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer them as honestly as you can."

He nodded as they sat down on the bench.

"Alright, shoot." He said, pushing a loose strand of hair behind his ear.

"Okay. When you woke up this morning, what was the first thought you had?"

"I believe it was something along the lines of 'Shut up you stupid clock, I heard you the first time.'"

Luka smiled and started writing down his answer, along with several notes and observations of her own.

"What was the first thing you did after turning off your alarm clock?"

"Got out of bed and walked up to my mirror."

"What did you do there?" she spoke as she scribbled on the pad.

"Normal things, mostly combing my hair and tying it back."

"Manly." Luka was almost surprised at herself. Since when had she been bold enough to use sarcasm with a man she hardly knew?

But Gakupo thought nothing of it, he just laughed.

"Whatever, next question please?"

"Alright, were there any things this morning that bothered or irritated you in any way? Besides the alarm I mean."

"Well, when you have hair this long, combing it's no fun, that's for sure. But there wasn't really anything today other than little things like that. Usually the stingy fat ass that owns my apartment building gives me shit about how I haven't paid my rent yet, but I guess he wasn't awake yet when I left."

"Are you in a state of bankruptcy?" Luka questioned.

"You could say that." Gakupo said, thinking it over. He was out of money, but this job would get him that. Then he could pay his rent. Then he would be able to keep his apartment. Everything would work out fine, or at least in his mind it would.

He looked toward Luka, who was bent over, completely engrossed in taking her notes. He watched as she scribbled away on her little mini notepad, oblivious to his inters in her. He didn't really know what she looked like beyond her face, considering that she always had a hood over her hair and the same baggy jeans and sweatshirt that concealed her figure. Not that he was really interested in her body; he wasn't a pervert, he was just curious.

_She show her hair when she feels like it. _He was very stern to himself, which wasn't normal for him. It was strange, but he decided that he had only known this woman for less than a day, so he had to stop acting like a weirdo.

"How long did it take you to walk here?" Luka's next question caught his attention, and he realized that he was still staring at her.

"Uh, about half an hour." He said, quickly turning to look at the trees. They weren't very interesting trees, but he would rather look at them than get caught staring at her again.

"Were you walking from far away?"

"Not really. Not too close or far I guess."

"Was there any reason you chose to walk?"

"I don't know, it just seemed like the most practical way to get here."

"Can you describe your feelings toward some of your friends to me?"

Gakupo looked at her strangely.

"Where did that come from?"

"I…." Luka's face began to turn pink, and she looked like she was trying to hide in her hoodie. "Just give me an answer, alright?"

"Well, its two people mainly, the owner of a café near my apartment, and his daughter. They're very nice people and they have amazing food, so I want to try to stay friends with them as long as possible."

"Do you feel as if you are only friends with them for their food or generosity?"

"No! Of course not! Mr. Sakine and Meiko are two of the most generous people I know, and I would never take advantage of them. I pay for all the food they give me and I like to talk to them and give them company whenever I can."

"Do you ever feel like they shouldn't be making you pay for that food?"

"No. It's a café, why wouldn't I pay for the food?"

"I thought they were your friends."

"I am their friend. That's why I pay them money. They're not exactly financially fit at the moment."

…

Luka sighed in frustration. This was going nowhere. She had been trying to excite some anger into him so that she could take notes on the human's limits for aggravation, but all she was getting was loyalty, and slight annoyance toward her.

_Then again, perhaps the nature of his loyalty contains information that is just as valuable as information about his anger. But I need to see to what limit it stretches._

"They can't be in a worse state than you." She pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I should be selfish."

"Everyone needs to be selfish once and a while. You have needs too, you know. You don't have to make everything about other people."

"That's a pretty crappy moral to be teaching people."

"It's the truth, and that is all that I stand by. I have few loyalties."

"I'm not exactly loyal to a lot of people myself, but these two are a definite exception."

Luka moaned quietly and wrote down his answers. It was obvious that he knew what she was doing, but he wasn't protesting due to his knowing that it was part of the job. He seemed to be giving honest answers, but it bugged her that he wasn't showing any passionate emotions or reactions.

"That's enough questions for now," she said, standing up "Let's go get some breakfast."

"Alright, do you have a place in mind?"

"Yes, it's a great place I found from asking around the hotel I'm staying in. They said it's got amazing food, and it's cheap too."

"Then let's go, I'm hungry."

* * *

**Note**

**So as you've probably figured out already, I'm not updating daily. The thing is that school is starting back up soon and I need to start actually sleeping instead of writing all night. So you are just going to have to be a bit more patient.**

**Also, the location of the city in which this story takes place is not going to be specified. It could be in Japan, America, Canada, England, etc. Use your imagination.**

* * *

**Time for Questions!**

**What happened with the Hatsunes that had everyone crying?**

**Will Kiyoteru figure out Lily's secret past?**

**Was Kaito not in enough of this chapter? I didn't really know what he would be doing other than sitting in the café.**

**Is Luka really as heartless as she just seemed a moment ago? Or was she just looking for a reaction out of Gakupo?**

**Why is Gakupo so curious about Luka's appearance?**

**Is there anything I neeed to work on for this story?**

**How would you compare the character's personalities with the ones they are given in other stories, cosplay, songs, etc.**

**Are there any characters you can relate to? If yes, how so?**

**Are there any Vocaloid songs you would compare to any moments in the story?**

**Did you read my previous story? If you did, is this one living up to the standards I set with that one?**

**Will Lily ever stop vomiting?**

**Is it normal for a thirteen year old girl to dance around her room like an idiot with Daughter of Evil playing in the background? Because that was my exercise today.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 5: Uphill or Downhill?

Chapter Five: Uphill or Downhill? It All Depends on Who You Are.

"Miss Hatsune, why are you late again?"

Miku said nothing, but handed the small slip of paper she had been given to the teacher. He seemed skeptical at first, but within seconds was holding a shocked hand over his mouth.

"My God. I'm so sorry about that. I suppose neither you nor your parents are taking it well?"

"I really don't feel comfortable talking about this in front of the class, sensei." Miku said, with her expression blank and her voice monotone. "I will come see you after class if you are truly concerned."

"Of course, I'm sorry for troubling you. You must be going through a lot emotionally."

Miku just nodded and went to take her seat.

Throughout the entirety of the rest of class, Miku was completely silent. When her friends tried to nudge her shoulder and ask her what was going on, she just shrugged them off and stared at her desk. When the bell rang, signaling the end of the class, everyone stood except Miku, who just stared at her desk, deep in thought. The sensei studied her for a second, waiting for her to move, but when she didn't, he walked over and sat down in the seat next to her.

"How do you feel about it?" he asked, to curious to be courteous toward her feelings.

"It's strange. I know that it's going to happen, and I know I can't do anything to help it. It's like watching as an asteroid comes rushing toward the earth to smash it to pieces, and you know there's nothing you can do about it. All I can do is watch as someone else tries to solve my problem, with no way for me to help. I feel so useless and needy, but worst of all, I feel so empty inside, knowing what's going to happen."

"Now you mustn't be so certain about it. There is a chance…."

"A chance? You say there's a chance? A chance is not going to be enough, and you know it. Everyone knows it, but they keep telling me that there's a small possibility. I saw the look on my parents' faces last night after they got the news, and that look said that they might as well just give up on it. There isn't any hope left, and everyone knows it."

Tears were streaming down Miku's cheeks. Normally this would have caused her make-up to run, but she had been crying so badly earlier that morning, she had already washed it all off. The sensei awkwardly tried to comfort her by patting her back, but she shoved him away and ran out of the classroom, hoping she wouldn't be late for her next class.

At lunch she explained what happened to her two best friends, Haku and Sonika. Sonika had just sat there, a shocked expression haunting her face, while Haku had grabbed Miku in a tight hug and tried to assure her that it would be alright. Miku returned the comforting embrace when she realized that Haku had started crying as well.

"I can't believe it." Sonika murmured as ran a hand through her vibrant green ponytail. She and Miku had best friends since elementary school. She still remembered the day Miku had come up to her on the playground. She had seen Sonika sitting all alone on the swings and asked if they could be best friends forever. They had even pinky promised, which, in the mind of a seven year old, was the most binding contract in existence. But it was a promise they had kept, and now she felt as if part of her was dying when she heard what had happened to her friend. They were so close, she felt as if it were happening to her instead.

"There's a chance if them fixing things, or at least that's what they tell me." Miku said, pulling away from Haku. Her and Sonika's relationship with Haku was had some interesting beginnings. In middle school, Haku had moved into the city. She had been exiled by the other students for her albinism, and was always hiding at lunch to avoid the bullies. Miku and Sonika had become popular due to their beauty (Despite that Miku wanted to believe it was their kindness, she knew the truth.) and had plenty of friends. Miku had found Haku crying behind the school cafeteria one day and asked her if she wanted to eat lunch with her and her friends. Haku had gratefully agreed, but when they returned to the table, all of Miku's so called friends had gotten up and left her for hanging out with "the albino from the rabbit hole," except for Sonika. Miku realized that day how naïve she had been about the people who had only used her for her money or status or whatever. From that day forward, Miku, Sonika, and Haku had remained friends, but without ever letting anyone get close to them. They weren't mean to everyone else, just cautious of them.

Haku and Sonika had been amazing friends to Miku, and now she felt horrible for what she was doing to them. She was putting them through all of this because she wanted help dealing with her own problem. She felt guilty and began to wonder if it just would have been better for them. But then when it happened, they wouldn't be prepared. She sighed and stared at the food in front of her, but she wasn't in any mood to eat. Sonika and Haku did likewise, not knowing what to say. But what was there to say to someone in this situation?

…

Kaito was up and walking around that day. He was able to get halfway across the small café before the dizziness struck and he collapsed. Meiko helped him into a nearby chair and felt his forehead.

"You're only getting worse." She told him. She wasn't one to lie, even for the sake of others. "We need to get you to a doctor and find out what's wrong with you."

Kaito laughed bitterly. "And I suppose you know someone who can pay for the medical bills?"

Meiko fell silent. Her father was out running some errands, so she had been left in charge of Kaito. It hadn't seemed like a hard job, but then she had seen him trying to walk from the kitchen. This made it even more obvious that Kaito was determined to get back on his feet again, but there was something that was holding him back, and Meiko was pretty sure that it didn't have anything to do with his previous near starvation.

"Well the least you can do is helping yourself by not trying to take a stroll around my café when you couldn't even stand yesterday."

Kaito sighed and rested his head on the cold wood of the table in front of him. He knew she was right, but he was tired of being another trouble to Meiko and Mr. Sakine. He wanted to get himself in shape to move before he caused them an even bigger problem. It wasn't that he didn't like or appreciate their help, but he felt as if he was taking advantage of them.

He lifted his head at the sound of a bowl clattering on the table his head was already resting on. He looked up to see a small bowl of oatmeal sitting in front of his face and Meiko sitting in the chair opposite him.

"Eat it." Her voice was stern and motherly. It wasn't a voice you would want to argue with. Kaito sat up and grabbed the spoon from where Meiko had placed it and started to eat the bland tasting mush. Meiko hadn't been able to sweeten the stuff, it being that she wanted to conserve whatever brown sugar and maple syrup they still had, so she had given it to him plain. Kaito didn't mind though; he was hungrier than he was picky. When he finished, he looked up and realized something.

"Meiko, how come you're not eating?"

She stared at him for a moment, as if she was surprised that he would ever actually ask a question like that.

"I ate earlier, when you were trying to walk. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just making sure that you're feeding yourself before me."

"You have no right to be courteous when you almost died of starvation. You need food more, but I can assure you that I am eating."

Kaito nodded as she took the empty bowl away to the kitchen. He watched her, wondering why she always felt the need to be so selfless and caring. She never put herself first in any situation; not even her father came after her in her eyes.

She was an amazing person, but Kaito tended to think highly of almost everyone. He rarely saw anyone's faults that weren't either obvious or his own. Meiko, Mr. Sakine, Miku, whoever the man who had saved him was, etc. They were all amazing people in his eyes, but all in their own ways.

When Meiko came out of the kitchen, she noticed that Kaito was in deep thought. She could tell by the way he stared off into space and tapped his fingers on the small table in front of him. She was especially smart for someone with her education. She had gone to a small public school as a child, and the teachers had been horrible. But she had learned what she could and done extra studying at a public library. She also was oddly talented at reading people through their facial expressions and body language.

Kaito looked up and saw Meiko watching him, so he quickly turned to stare at the tabletop in embarrassment. He hated when Meiko just sat there, studying him and his actions. It made him feel like she was a scientist and he was some sort of specimen up for study.

She continued to watch him, not taking the hint. Her eyes moved from his face and made their way to his hands, which had gone from tapping to still. They reminded Meiko of the hands of a corpse, lifeless and unmoving. But there was still blood flowing through those veins, but if they didn't get him to some sort of doctor or something, that blood might just stop flowing.

…

"Why won't you tell me where we're going?"

"I want to see how you react to information being kept from you and seeing something you weren't expecting."

"So it won't be something I'd expect?"

"Stop trying to figure it out!"

Gakupo laughed at her. They were walking away from the restaurant where they'd gone for breakfast. The food had been amazing and affordable, which had pleased Gakupo so much, he had insisted he pay for his own food instead of Luka paying for both their meals.

Luka was now dragging him toward a mystery location. He had no idea what she had planned, and was extremely curious as to what it was. He pestered her with questions about it, but she wouldn't crack.

"You're such a kid, Gakupo." Luka commented, taking notes of his behavior. "You have no patience."

"I have patience; I just don't bother to use it"

"What does that even mean?"

"It means that I don't understand this argument anymore."

Now it was Luka's turn to laugh. Gakupo laughed along with her, it being that he loved to hear other people laugh. Luka's laugh was especially nice, making him feel the need to laugh himself just because it was such a gentile and pretty laugh.

Pretty…was that how he thought of her? He thought that her face was rather nice, it being so perfectly sculpted with rather cute features. But he still wanted to know what her hair looked like. When they had gone into the restaurant, she had lowered her hood only to reveal a black beanie with all her hair tucked inside. He hadn't asked about it, but he was pretty sure he had minorly offended her with his frustrated and disappointed staring at her head. She had also kept most of her skin covered, as if she didn't want anyone to see it, and she had her hood up as often as she could so that there was a shadow over her face, making her features hard to define. She was obviously trying to hide her identity, but why? He had asked her a bunch of questions in the diner about where her money was coming from and where she lived, and she had given him short, simple answers. Although she had been giving him information, she wasn't opening up to him or telling him what he really wanted to know. He groaned, knowing that he needed to give her time. They had only met last night, after all.

"Here we are!" Luka pulled him back to earth, leaving him staring at the large building. He was just as surprised as Luka had told him he would be, not having expected something like this.

"You can't be serious."

"One hundred percent"

"Aren't these places expensive?"

"Not this one, it says bargain on the window right there."

"So it does. But I'm not going in there."

"Go in there or I'm not paying you."

Gakupo sighed and walked through the doors of the roller rink. The inside was dark with a lot of flashing lights, like a night club. Children, teenagers, and a few adults filled up the wooden skate floor. Loud punk music was playing everywhere, even in the food area.

"You aren't actually going to force me to skate are you? This is our first day working together!"

"Yes I am. I want to see how you react to something embarrassing and ridiculous like this. I'm also taking note of your complete refusal to do this, despite that nobody will even care about what you're doing except you."

"Just don't take any videos of me."

Luka laughed that laugh again. That nice, pretty laugh.

They rented skated from the counter and walked into the food court to put them on.

"You're skating too?" Gakupo looked suspiciously at the skates in Luka's hand.

"Yeah, I happen to like this kind of thing."

"Alright, whatever you want boss."

…

Luka was surprising herself more and more every minute of that day. She was acting so confidently and boldly. Was it because she was disguised? Could a shadow over her face and her braids tucked into her hat really make her feel like such a different person?

She pulled the skated on and laced them up. She them grabbed Gakupo and pulled him onto the skate rink, where he grumbled uncomfortably before she started to push him.

"Hey!" he protested. "The hell, Luka?"

"If you don't want me to push you, skate by yourself you big lump." She teased him as she started to skate in front of him, teasing his lack of skating skills.

"Oh, you're on." He said, taking the bait. Luka smiled and began mentally taking notes of what she needed to write down.

_His male competitive spirit is being roused. This is being caused by his matural instincts to compete with any other being that either acts as a threat to his power, territory, or mate, or provokes him in some way, which is what I'm doing. He was quick to react to my taunting, so he must not care to adjust his currently primitive emotions. But it seems that not all of him emotions are this underdeveloped, it being that he refused to get angry earlier due to his loyalty to his friends. He has focused some energy into altering some of his natural reactions, but this appears to have been a subconscious choice. He doesn't seem like a man who would be able to alter himself like that on purpose. It isn't unlikely that this subconscious change was made due to some sort of past event involving broken loyalties to some sort of group or individual. But it doesn't seem like he has a history –or at least a recent history- with provocation in the terms of how I am using it right now. Although it is possible that he has, but was unable or unwilling to make the changes that would make him less primitive in that particular area. This could be a result of some sort of pressure by an authoritative figure to change this about himself, but he either consciously or subconsciously refused to make this change as an act of rebellion to show that he is the dominant figure. Or perhaps it was the opposite, and he was attempting to comply with this desire which could be of himself or another individual. But if it was another human being, than most likely they were attempting to manipulate his actions for some sort of personal issue, it being that most humans are driven by greed, and there would be no other reason to encourage his primitive drives. There is also the possibility that it was simply never given as an option to change this, and he remained the way he was created._

As Luka's mind continued to run on hyper-drive, her body was chasing Gakupo around the roller rink. His competitive spirit that Luka had condemned as "primitive" had him racing her around the perimeter of the rink. She was chasing him, trying to keep him in that particular mood, but she wasn't focused on what she was doing at all. She was entirely focused on his behavior, her mind processing the new behavior that was rising as well as the behavior she had been thinking over a minute ago. His embarrassment vanquished, he was laughing and racing around the rink, Luka hot on his trail as she continued the actions that she knew would pull information out of him.

Even since young childhood, people had called her a genius. She had skipped several grades due to her insanely high grades on intelligence tests they gave her when they realized her strange mental abilities. It had turned out that she had a strangely gifted brain, which was able to process multiple vast loads of information at the same time in great depth. This ability in addition to her near perfect memory always made her want to learn new things. She would read books about all different subjects in her free time, even as a very young child. Her ability to easily process and store large amount of information in short amounts of time had made learning easy for her, which was why she always wanted to learn more.

Her interest in human nature began around the age of eleven, when people had begun to constantly ask her why she liked school and learning so much. It had made her wonder why children disliked these things, so she had asked her parents and teachers. None of them had known the answer, so she went on her own investigation to find out. After talking to her friends, studying her classmates, and reading as much as she could about the habits of human children, she concluded that it was due to a mixture of their lack of understanding of how important it truly was, and the fact that it was challenging for their minds to comprehend, causing them to automatically dislike it. Her parents and teachers had been impressed and pleased, but her schoolmates (all of which were older than her, it being that she had skipped grades) began to insult and ridicule her "nerdiness" as something that was socially unacceptable. Luka, only sparked by farther curiosity as to what caused these emotions toward her, began to do more studies on the students around her. With every research project came more and more bullying, until the student finally turned everyone in the school against her. That was when she had snapped, stopping her investigations completely and becoming the silent observer she was. She had hoped that society would reaccept her, being that she had become relatively "normal," but it seemed as if they found her previous behavior to be an unforgivable crime that would have her exiled forever.

The exile caused Luka to beg her parents to let her change schools, who had agreed and sent her to an educational program for gifted students. There she had been accepted, but was still too shy and afraid to do any more of her research. She had become a different person, which had made her feel more confident about herself, but empty inside because of her real personality, which was trying to claw its way out of the prison she had locked it in. But she had ignored the feeling; it had been getting in the way of her short friendships with people she hardly knew.

Returning to the present, Luka caught up to Gakupo, who only began to skate faster and faster. He had apparently been going too fast, because he lost his balance and tipped over. He slid across the floor and into the wall bordering the rink. Luka applied her brakes to slow down and skated to the wall where he had crashed. Her hands were clasped over her mouth as she bent over him.

"Are you alright?"

He lied still for a moment, which had Luka frightened. She began to wonder if he had gotten some sort of concussion.

"Gakupo? Did you injure your head?"

She bent over him until she was just a few inches away, which was when he suddenly sprang up and grabbed her around the waist. She shrieked in surprise as he pulled her to the ground with him, laughing maniacally.

"Gotcha!" he said between laughs. Luka sat up, frowning at him.

"That wasn't funny."

"Not compared to your reaction. 'Did you injure your head?'" he mimicked her in a high pitched version of his own voice. Luka kicked him.

"You're an idiot."

"Why don't you write that down on your notepad? _Kamui Gakupo is a complete idiot._" He laughed even harder. Luka hauled herself to her feet, trying not to slip on her skates. She looked up to see that the rink supervisor had come over to them.

"Is everything okay over here?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just slipped." Gakupo explained, pulling himself to his feet.

"Well, next time I recommend that you don't bring your girlfriend down with you."

Luka's face turned bright red. She hadn't blushed like that since her first time in the music store.

"We….we're not…." She stuttered.

"We're just friends." Gakupo said quickly.

"Hardly. We're business partners." Luka added.

"Out skating together?" the man raised an eyebrow.

"Long story." Gakupo said. The man smiled and skated away without another word, leaving Gakupo and Luka to themselves. Luka helped Gakupo stand and supported him off the rink and into the food court. She dropped him down on a chair and sat down herself.

"How do you feel?"

"Eh? Just a bit twisted up." Gakupo brushed her concern away. Luka wasn't convinced, considering that she had practically carried him off the rink. "I told you this was a bad idea."

"You looked like you were having fun to me." Luka commented, crossing her arms with a smug smile. Gakupo gave a playful snarl accompanied by a light shove. They both laughed.

When the merriment was over, Luka pulled out her notebook and began writing down every thought she'd had about Gakupo while skating. She even wrote about his pride in tricking her and knocking her down. As she wrote, she saw Gakupo watching her out of the corner of her eye. He looked curious and interested, but he wasn't looking at her writing; he was looking at her face. She guessed that he was thinking about why she tried to cover her hair and face all the time. She sighed, knowing that –even though she had washed away the makeup that had transformer her face- he might still recognize her features if he really tried. The only time she had lowered her hood had been in the restaurant, but he hadn't looked suspicious at all.

As she wrote, she thought about Gakupo's behavior toward her. He was very open and playful sometimes, as if they had been friends for years. She supposed that he was just doing his job, or that he was just a very open person with a bright personality. He wasn't childish of course, that had been made clear as soon as he saw the roller rink. But he did have the spirited disposition that few adults had when it came to competition. She wrote her thoughts on the small pad, leaving out the part about his studying her identity.

When she finished, she set down the pad and smiled at Gakupo.

"You ready to go?"

"I was ready to go when I walked in."

…

"How does that feel to you?" Kiyoteru asked.

"I don't know. The same I guess."

They walked away from the hairdressers, Kiyoteru feeling satisfied and Lily not feeling much at all. She was doing well with putting the events of the previous night from her head, but she wasn't anywhere close to recovered. Kiyoteru had taken her to get several inches of her hair cut off, but it hadn't made her feel any different. Losing some split ends and wearing clean clothing didn't make her feel any different than she had before. Looking different didn't change who she was, or where she had come from. There were still people in the street who gave her dirty looks, and she still felt horrible to be staying in the house of a man who had never done anything wrong. She knew that she would just bring him trouble.

So why was she so reluctant to leave? She wanted to, but there was something stopping her. That something was a five foot nine inch tall rich man who was being way too kind. He was doing everything for her, and she had no idea why. What reason did he have to feed, shelter, groom, and speak to her? She wasn't a stray dog that you could just pick up and take home with you, she was a…..

"Where are we going?" she asked him, trying to take her mind away from the subject before any unpleasantness happened again.

"The hospital. You need a doctor to take a look at the fetus."

Lily sighed, knowing she was right. But she didn't want him paying for this now. It wasn't at all what she had expected when she took his hand in the alley that day, and she felt like such a trouble to him for it. She knew he was worried because of her insane vomiting, and he wanted to at least get her to a doctor. She felt so dirty next to him, and she knew she had to go before he did something he would regret, or even discovered her secret.

She sighed, and knew that she would have to at least go with him for now. But she could figure her plan out after.

She still wanted to get rid of the baby; that hadn't changed. But she wasn't prepared to ask him to spend so much money on her. It wasn't because she was afraid of him saying no; she was afraid of him saying yes.

* * *

**Sorry for the lack of Kiyoteru and Lily, they just did so much in the last chapter that I wasn't really sure what to do with them this time.**

* * *

**Questions Questions Questions!**

**Did you like the bit of insight into Luka's past?**

**Did anyone else go "what?" after reading Luka's thoughts about Gakupo? I did, and I WROTE IT!**

**How and why does Miku's problem affect Sonika and Haku?**

**Did this seem like a filler chapter?**

**Is there any reason Meiko and Kaito know each other so well besides their friendship?**

**Would Luka showing who she was change Gakupo's feeling about working for her?**

**Does Lily really want to keep Kiyoteru from waisting money on her? Or does she have other reasons?**

**Was this chapter really boring? Nothing really happened.**

**How did you come across my story?**

**Would you recommend this story to a friend?**

**Are there any characters that you can compare to other characters in the story? I can think of a few.**

**Are there any mistakes or things you can recommend I work on?**

**Does the story connect with you as a reader?**

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading! Please follow, favorite, and/or review!**

**I love you all!**

** H.A.H.**


	7. Chapter 6: Observation and Thoughts

Chapter Six: New Discoveries and Topics of Thought

"How is it?" Kiyoteru asked the doctor.

"The baby will be fine as long as Lily here eats more often. She tells me that she had been experiencing strange vomiting fits, and they may be due to anxiety or her bad eating habits. She went for a long period of time without eating anything before she gorged herself sick. As long as you monitor her habits, she should be fine."

"Thank you, doctor." Kiyoteru said with a nod at the very moment when Lily walked into the room.

"You are welcome, Mr. Hiyama. But there are some things your friend refuses to tell me. When I asked about the child's father, she clammed up and stared at the wall, like she didn't want to share the information with me. Would you know anything about that?"

"I'm afraid that she hasn't told me anything either. But if she doesn't want to share the information, than why should she be convinced to do so?"

The doctor gave him an odd look, but didn't argue. Kiyoteru looked over to Lily, who wouldn't take her eyes from the floor. She was an odd woman, but he had never thought about how someone acted as a way to judge them.

Instead he had judged them by their class.

Ever since his young childhood, Kiyoteru's parents had always spoiled him, telling him he was perfect because of his knowledge and his status. He had always seen the dying men, woman, and children crawling through the street, begging him for money or food. He had always shoved them aside, sometimes even injuring them if they persistently followed him. To him, they had always just been there, not as living humans, but as minor pests and obstacles on the sidewalk. He had never given them a second thought, it being that his mind was always cluttered with his plans, schooling, random thoughts, selfishly lived social life, etc. He had tossed them the occasional pitying glance, but there was always no time to help them when he had a test to study for, or a party to get to, or something of the sort. His life had always come first, not even thinking about whoever he saw dying or dead on the sidewalk, because -in truth- every homeless person was dying in some way. They were all headed for death one way or another, so what was the point in giving them food or money? All it would do was let them live for a bit longer, just to go hungry again. Wouldn't letting them die sooner be doing them a favor?

But there had been something different about Lily; he had realized that the second he swung his briefcase at her. It had been something in her face, something so familiar that it practically ripped him apart not knowing why. He knew her from somewhere, he had been sure of it, but he couldn't put his finger on just where. He had felt an impulse to help her for some reason, and it had been far too powerful to resist. He hadn't expected her to trust him, but she had obviously been desperate enough to risk going with a stranger for help. He had told her it was out of guilt for attacking her, but it had just been because if she hadn't recognized him, she obviously didn't remember him.

But he remembered, but it had taken him until that moment to figure it out.

…

Miku walked home that day, wanting to look around the city. There was so much of it she had to see that she either hadn't seen in a long time or had never seen before. She was almost off the school property when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. She turned to see Haku and Sonika racing toward her. Sonika was shouting and Haku puffing heavily.

"Shouldn't you guys be heading to your bus?" Miku asked worriedly.

"Shouldn't you?" Sonika raised a finely trimmed eyebrow.

"I was going to walk today; there are so many things I want to see that I haven't seen in a long time."

"If you're walking home, so are we." Haku said, putting an arm around her turquoise-pigtailed friend. "The bus has probably left by now, considering the time we spent running to find you."

"Why?"

"We wanted to see if you were alright. You kinda stormed out of last period the second the bell rang." Haku explained. "You looked pretty mad."

"That damn sensei was bugging me about what happened. She seemed to think that constantly reminding me of it would help how I felt." Miku clenched her fist.

"Forget that bitch." Sonika waved a hand dismissively, as if the problem was a physical thing she could swat away like a fly. "Let's just go before any of our parents freak out."

They made their way along the side of the road, they noticed the interesting lack of traffic. They had never walked through that particular area at that time of day; they had only sat half asleep on the busses as they stared at the ground.

_Everyone is working, so there aren't a lot of people around to run us over. _

Miku looked around, wanting to take as much in as she could. They were in a part of the city that was fairly wealthy, so Miku found herself surrounded by several large office buildings with the logos of rich corporations on the side. The sheer scale of the buildings made Miku feel tiny, as if she were the size of an ant. Haku and Sonika, who were several steps behind Miku, tried to look around as well, but they weren't able to take their eyes off of Miku. She was to them what the sights were to her.

Miku looked down from the huge buildings to notice another thing. It had always seemed to her that everywhere she went, there were more homeless people than rats, and there were a lot of rats. But in that area, she hardly saw any.

"There aren't a lot of the homeless here." She commented, sharing her observation with Haku and Sonika. "Isn't that a little strange?"

"Not really." Sonika said casually. "I've been through this area before, and there are never a lot of them. All these big corporations try to chase them away to keep them from doing anything that might cause them to lose money."

"Like what?"

"Attacking one of their employees, swiping something important, vandalizing their fancy buildings, shit like that." Haku said as she glared in the direction of one of the shiny buildings made of darkly tinted glass. Haku hated anyone who was cruel to the homeless, knowing what prejudice and cruelty felt like when it was directed at someone. She donated to homeless shelters, gave people on the street money and food, and did whatever else she could to help those less fortunate than her. Miku and Sonika had always been impressed with her efforts, but had been unsuccessful in contributing the way she had. Even Miku's helping Kaito wasn't close to what Haku had contributed.

"That's just wonderful." Sonika muttered sarcastically. Although she wasn't a huge fan of the way homeless people were treated, she was more against large corporations than she was against unfair treatment of the homeless. She believed that all of these corporations were just making useless products that worsened the human society.

Both of Miku's friends were so active and vocal toward the problems with humanity, but Miku was different. She did agree with her friends on these matters, but she was ultimately silent when it came to giving her opinion on them. She wasn't very vocal when it came to complaints, but that was because her parents had raised her that way. She had always just gone along with the way things were, never questioning anything. When she had first met Sonika, she had been too young to rant about the government and large industries, but she had complained about smaller unfair topics, such as the unfairness of homework, the stupidity of the teacher's power, and other things children tend to complain about. Although Miku had been unable to relate, Sonika had tried to convince her to go along with her rants and protests. Miku had refused, but their friendship had never been affected.

Parents have a lot of influence on their child's behavior, but that doesn't make them to blame for everything their kid does. Sonika's parents were kind, quiet people, but their daughter was loud, opinioned, and angry. She hated the world, and believed that it was fucked up beyond repair. Haku's parents were loud, snobby people who kissed up to the government, but their albino child was beyond kind and felt that if there was no one helping the people who needed help the most, why shouldn't Sonika complain about the ridiculousness of everything that the government funded? Haku had dedicated her life to helping those who could not receive help another way, but her parents were lazy and careless about the homeless and helpless. Miku was sixteen years old, old enough to make her own decisions in her eyes. But her parents were still just as controlling as they had been ten years before. Her father may have coddled and pampered her, but that didn't make it right for him to control her life. He refused to let her do anything on her own, and if she did anything he didn't hear about it, he would interrogate and scold her about it to no end, driving Miku out of her little turquoise-haired head. He even chose half of her things for her. He had even chosen….

"Hey Miku!" the voice was like sizzling oil on a disgusting fast food grill. She didn't even want to turn and look at the perfect clothes and well combed blue hair. She shivered at the voice, knowing what it meant, knowing that the sizzling oil on the grill was really a huge amount of saliva in a disgusting mouth. Sonika and Haku looked at her questioningly, and she knew what they were thinking.

_Why is he here? He doesn't live around here. He should still be in his stupid all boys school._

The pound of black school shoes on the pavement snuck up on them as their muttering about the area died away. Miku sighed and reluctantly turned to see the well groomed blue haired boy in his black school uniform with a blue tie. He grinned a sly grin that was filled with such snobby stupidity. Miku bit her tongue before she could lash out at him, knowing that he would only report what she did to her father.

"Hi." She said, forcing a smile. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"They let us out early today." He said, still grinning his stupid grin. "Besides, don't you WANT to see me?"

"Of course I do, Mikuo." She said, her false smile becoming even more painful as she forced lies through it. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Who are your friends?" Mikuo looked questioningly at Haku and Sonika, who were trying not to glare at him. Miku had told them about Mikuo, and they knew they had to pretend that they didn't hate him.

"Yowane Haku." Haku said, trying to keep from showing Mikuo that she was seething with rage. "And that's Sonika."

"Hey," Sonika said, barely able to speak to the boy without shouting at him.

"Hey, I'm Mikuo." He smiled slyly at them, the way stupid boys do when they think a girl is cute and they want to look cool. Haku and Sonika weren't idiots, so they gave him small smiles and turned to look at Miku.

"Was there something you wanted, Mikuo?" Miku tried to say it nicely, but there was an edge of bitterness to her tone. Mikuo only laughed.

"A little bird told me you had something to tell me." He said. "What's up?"

Miku sighed. She didn't want to tell him, but she knew she had to if she didn't want trouble with her father. So she kept it short and blunt, watching in satisfaction as his face turned white and his jaw dropped. She smirked in satisfaction, knowing that this was one upside to her whole dilemma, the way it affected Mikuo.

"My god." Mikuo's expression made Miku want to laugh. She knew that he wasn't concerned, but he would be losing his job and his little play toy. "I'm sorry baby."

"It doesn't matter." Miku said dismissively, but she really wanted him to be upset. Miku had never been a sadist in any way, but Mikuo was such a disgusting person to her that she enjoyed his pain. "I just need some time to think."

"Oh? Why are you with these two then?"

_Crap. _He was too smart to be tricked by something that simple. She needed to outthink him.

"We aren't talking at the moment. We're all thinking separately, but walking together."

"Why?"

"Safety in numbers"

"So you wouldn't mind if I walked with you, right?"

_Dammit, how do I argue this?_

"Well….."

"You're just so attractive that it would be a distraction from our thinking." Sonika came to Miku's rescue.

Mikuo grinned.

"Why, I didn't even think about that. I'm sorry for being so distracting to you three."

Miku nodded and turned to leave, but just as she did so, Mikuo grabbed her and pulled her into a kiss. She wanted to fight him, to push him away so very badly. But she knew she couldn't, so she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back, pretending to enjoy it. He recognized her "excitement" and gently released her from the kiss. Miku was relieved beyond measure, but pretended to look disappointed.

"We can do this later." He whispered as he stepped away. Miku nodded and gave a small wave before walking away with Sonika and Haku. As soon as they had walked far away enough for him to be out of sight and out of earshot, Sonika exploded.

"Who the fuck does that guy think he is? He's a complete bastard! How could he be such an asshole as to mess around with your emotions like that? He treats you like you're a fan girl turned sex object or something! How could your dad ever set you up with someone that stupid?"

"My dad runs my life. I can't dump him, or it would just get worse. I tried with the last five guys he set me up with, and every time he brings a new guy up who's even worse. I don't want it to get worse than Mikuo. This is just my dad's way of getting someone to spy on me; I figured that out a long time ago. He sets me up with these rich bastards and pays them to spy on me. I pretend I don't know because….."

The truth was, Miku didn't know why she pretended she didn't know instead of coming out and telling her father she knew. There was nothing stopping her, and it was the smart thing to do. So why, when the choice was between standing up to her father and staying with Mikuo the dickhead, couldn't she do anything?

"Because you're afraid of him, aren't you?" Sonika answered Miku's question for her. It continued to amaze Miku that her best friend knew her better than ever she herself did. "You're afraid of what he might do if he finds out that you know he's spying on you. But do you have any real reason behind the fear?"

"My father is insane, Sonika." Miku argued. "I can't just go up to him and yell at him from making me date his spies."

"But it isn't your father your father you're afraid of, is it?" Sonika argued, raising an eyebrow. "It's _him._" She nodded in the direction of the boy they had left behind. "He's treating you like you're his toy, and if you tell your father that you don't want his spies around you, he'll know that you aren't the kind to dislike something due to a principal or personal reason. He'll figure out how Mikuo is treating you, and the bastard will come after you after. That's why, isn't it?"

Miku sighed, knowing that Sonika was right. Sonika didn't just know Miku well, but she was also extremely smart. She was able to analyze what she knew about Miku, what she knew about Mikuo, and what she knew about Miku's father to come up with the scenario of what would happen if Miku told her father what she knew.

"Yeah," she said after a moment. "Yeah it is."

"What are you going to do?" Haku asked.

Miku smiled, despite how much she had cried that day.

"I'm going to take his toy away."

"He hasn't actually…." A worried tone crept into Haku's voice.

"No, but he might now that he knows what's going to happen."

"Will you tell if he tries?"

"Probably, I'm not letting him have that satisfaction. Besides, it's not like he has a lot of time to try to come after me if I do. But I have a few months, so I'm going to hold out until it becomes necessary."

"You say that like you're sure it will happen." Haku pointed out.

"It most likely will." Sonika crossed her thin arms and blew a strand of green hair out of her face. "But it doesn't really matter now, does it? We should just keep walking and forget about him. We should enjoy ourselves while we still can."

Haku and Miku nodded, and the three of them continued walking through the silence.

…

"Why are we back here?"

"Why do you always ask questions?"

"I have a natural sense of curiosity, and I'm pretty paranoid. For all I know, you could just want to steal my wallet."

"Because I totally need your money," Luka laughed and rolled her blue eyes. She was feeling more and more comfortable with Gakupo every hour they spent together.

"Well why are we back at the park?" he asked, adjusting his purple ponytail.

"I wanted to see how you would react to familiar scenery after I spent most of out time showing you new things."

Gakupo sighed as they walked toward the center of the park where they had met that morning. Unlike earlier, there were people everywhere, young couples, families on after school picnics, women pushing their babies in strollers, etc. It was almost a different world from the strange, frosty park they had met in that morning.

Luka began scribbling in her notebook, watching Gakupo's every move. He looked at her for a moment before glancing at the people around him. He watched as a teenage boy sat on a bench next to his girlfriend and handed her an ice cream cone. She giggled and gave the boy a peck on the cheek. Luka watched as Gakupo sighed and turned away. Her not taking slowed and stopped, and he turned to see her staring at him.

"What?" he asked. This was the first time he had seen her watching him with her notepad in her hand, but her pencil completely still.

"Nothing," she assured him as she continued writing. He looked at her strangely for a moment before shrugging and turning back to the other people.

_What was that? I just saw him staring at the couple for a moment and I just froze. Was it the look on his face? But why would something as simple as longing, which I see all the time, have such an effect on me? All human males start feeling sexual desires around the beginning of their teenage years, which humans mistake for something they call love. This continues on into adulthood, and it is obviously what is affecting Gakupo right now. Some men recognize it as a sexual desire, but many remain convinced of the existence of love. The existence of such a thing is most likely impossible, if it did what would it be? It couldn't be an emotion, a desire, a mental function, so what would it be? It isn't possible for anything like that to exist, and my reaction to his expression happened out of pity, which is a real thing and has developed in human minds. I pitied him because he triggered me to do so by showing me sadness, or at least some derivative of sadness._

They walked over to the fountain and sat on the edge. Luka continued to write as Gakupo stared into the water, deep in his own thoughts.

…

Gakupo sighed, glancing at Luka. She was still completely immersed in her notes, scribbling away at high speed so that she could write everything she wanted to. He turned back to the flowing water of the fountain. It was a beautiful copper fountain which depicted two glamorous mermaids sitting back to back. A spout of water shot from in between the two creatures' heads, causing water to shoot up into the air and splash down on their heads. Although beautiful, Gakupo found himself staring at the piles of rusty coins collecting at the bottom of the fountain. The result of hundreds of children, lovers, or anyone who desired to toss some loose change both glimmered and rusted beneath the shallow water. He stared at them for a moment before he realized he had pulled a coin out of his pocket.

"Gakupo?"

He turned and looked at Luka for a second, returning her confused stare with a determined one. He spun around and made a silent wish before tossing the coin over his head and into the fountain. He then smiled at Luka and sat back down beside her.

"Why did you do that?" Luka raised an eyebrow. "I don't see what it accomplishes."

"You mean you've never seen someone make a wish like that before?" Gakupo was surprised. Wasn't that just something people did?

"No, I have." Luka assured him. "I just never understood the purpose. How could tossing a coin over your shoulder and into some water make your wish come true? Whatever you want, you need to work to get it."

"What I wished for isn't something that I can get through work." Gakupo said seriously.

"Why wish for the impossible?"

Gakupo laughed and looked up at the clear blue sky. There was a slight chill to the air, but that only gave him that soft, autumn feel.

"Maybe it is impossible, but I can dream, can't I?"

Luka sighed as if Gakupo were the most ludicrous man in the world.

"What did you even wish for?"

"Now if I tell you, it won't come true, now will it?"

"You're impossible. You are truly the most absurd man I have ever met."

Gakupo grinned. He knew Luka was an entirely rational person, but messing with people was part of his boyish nature.

"Maybe my wish is just none of your business."

"A simple thing such as privacy does not stifle a human's curiosity."

"So you know that you're human, then? The way you talk about them makes you sound like you think you're an alien or something."

"You are hilarious. No really." Luka's voice was a pool filled with sarcasm.

Gakupo laughed again. He found Luka's exasperation with his behavior pretty funny, but who wouldn't?

He thought about his wish. He had seen that teenage couple and immediately two women had come to mind, neither being the one who sat beside him. The first had been his girlfriend from over a year ago. She was an image of large golden eyes, pale skin, and long hair with one side dyed brown and the other blonde with a rainbow of colors through the brown side of her bangs. He had met Galaco when he had gotten his job at the music store, and he had felt instantly in love with her. She had an attitude and was beyond lazy, but he had coaxed her into going out with him. He had never felt happier with anyone else, and he had thought the feeling had been mutual, but apparently he had been wrong. After only a month, he had tried to kiss her, and she had flat out shoved him away. He had apologized what had seemed like a million times, but Galaco had just turned away from him and rejected him. She had afterward said that she hadn't really liked him and had only been his girlfriend out of pity. She had known that he liked her, and she had only gone out because she had thought she was being a good friend by doing so. They hadn't spoken for months afterward, but soon enough they were friends again.

The second woman was of a completely different appearance. Her kind brown eyes, gently tanned skin, and extremely short brown hair were what made up her character. Meiko and Gakupo had been friends for a long time, and he had never thought of them being more than that. Meiko was one of the kindest and most helpful people he had ever met. She helped whoever she could, not caring where they came from or who they were. She had helped him when he was living on the streets, and had become his friend after he won her over with his sarcasm and childish jokes. She and her father had been the only ones he had ever gone to for food before Luka had taken him out that day. He reminded himself to go there that night for dinner, which would be after he and Luka went their separate ways for the day.

A quiet humming took him mind off of Galaco and Meiko, causing him to look over at the source of it. He smiled when he saw that it was none other than Luka. He hadn't known she could sing, but he recognized the song she was humming. It was a duet, but she was humming both parts.

Gakupo had an idea, and he knew just how to put it into motion.

…

Humming was something Luka did when she was deep in thought. It wasn't really something she thought about, it just subconsciously happened. She was right in the middle of a popular duet she had heard a million times on the radio when suddenly Gakupo started humming along. Her face went pink and she stopped mid-song, looking at the purple haired man. He was just sitting there, a satisfied smile on his face as he hummed with a beautifully deep voice. She felt embarrassed that he had heard, and the embarrassment only grew when he finished the verse and gave her a look.

"What?" she felt self-conscious in the public place, it being that her fear of being judged by other humans hadn't changed.

"It's a duet, and it just became your turn again." He smirked at her, waiting for a response.

"I don't sing."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"You don't sing, but you hum?"

"You could put it that way."

"Then hum." His demand was given jokingly, but it didn't make him any less serious.

Luka sighed and began to hum the next verse quietly. Gakupo raised an eyebrow and cupped a hand around his ear, signaling that he wanted her to be louder. Luka raised her voice slightly and turned pink as soon as she realized that some people were looking over at them. She stopped humming and stared apologetically at them, as if she had something to be sorry about. She was afraid of them judging her, and couldn't bring out another note.

Without warning, a gentle hand cupped around her cheek and turned her head to face its owner. Gakupo's skin was rough and calloused, but there was a gentle kindness to his warm touch.

"Ignore them, they're just jealous. Just keep looking at me; pretend we're the only ones here." He whispered. Luka was uncomfortable with how close their faces were, as if he were going to do something to her. The fear of him was overpowering her fear of the people watching her. But she swallowed her fear and nodded, wanting to prove that not every little thing terrified her.

She began to hum again, forcing herself not to look at anyone but Gakupo, which she found to be difficult at first, being that she wanted to look to see if anyone was watching her, but she soon found the sight of Gakupo's face to be comforting. He smiled and began humming a harmony to the melody she sang, and soon they were actually singing the words. They stared right into each other's faces, Luka too scared to turn away and Gakupo not letting her. They made it all the way to the end of the song before she finally turned away from him to see something horrifying. Half the people in the area by the fountain were watching them, some smiling and others looking annoyed that they were disrupting the peace of the park. There was silence for a moment before someone started clapping, which led to more and more people clapping until almost everyone who had been smiling at them was applauding. The annoyed people turned to glare at them, giving Luka some relief.

She turned to see Gakupo beaming at her.

"You have a nice voice." He said, his smile unfaltering.

"So do you." Luka's response was barely more than a whisper that could have been mistaken for the sound of a bird's winds that was carried on the wind. Her face was as red as the roses growing nearby, causing Gakupo to chuckle and stand up. Luka looked up from the grass and stood with him. "Why did you get up?"

"I'd imagine you want to go, considering the fact that your face looks like there's a fire under your cheeks right now." The comment only caused more heat to flow into Luka's face; she hadn't wanted him to notice, let alone comment on it. She gave a small nod and walked with him away from the fountain.

…

"You guys wanna stop for a bite?" Miku asked.

Sonika raised an eyebrow, but Haku nodded eagerly.

"I'm starving! Was there somewhere you wanted to go?"

"We're near a place actually." Miku said, a small smile creeping onto her face.

Haku's expression changed to match Sonika's.

"Here? But we're in a poorer part of town; wouldn't there he better food closer to home?"

"Trust me, I know a great place." Miku led a shrugging Sonika and a confused Haku up the street and into a small café. She turned to see the person she had come to see look up when she walked in. He was sitting in the same booth he had been the day before.

"Hi Miku!" Meiko called from the other side of the café. It was obvious to Miku that she was a very friendly woman and would make a good friend. "Glad to see you back."

"It's great to see you too Meiko." She said as the short haired woman walked toward her. "I brought some friends."

"I see," Meiko nodded to Haku and Sonika. "Do they have names?"

"I'm Yowane Haku." Haku smiled at Meiko, recognizing her friendliness. "And this is Sonika."

"Hey," Sonika gave a small wave. "So, I was told there's food here?"

"Yep," Meiko said with a laugh. "You heard right. You girls sit anywhere while I get a menu."

Miku led Sonika and Haku to a booth close to Kaito's and sat down. Kaito watched their every move with his intense blue eyes, as if the girls fascinated him. Sonika took notice of this.

"Can I help you?" she asked, turning around in her seat to face Kaito. He stared at her for a moment before mumbling an apology and turning to stare at the table.

"That's just Kaito." Miku explained to her friend. "He doesn't have anywhere to stay, so Meiko and her dad are letting him sleep here for a while."

"Oh really?" Haku asked, her fiery eyes lighting up. "They must be very nice people."

"We're awesome, you should totally have a conversation with one of us sometime." Meiko said, dropping menus on the table with a smile. "You know, instead of talking about us like I'm not here."

Haku blushed as Meiko laughed. Miku recognized the laugh to not be taunting, but friendly and joking. She joined in the laugh, giving Haku a small nudge from across the table. Haku took the hint and began giggling along with them, but Sonika remained silent as she glared at her menu. After the laughter died down, the girls ordered and Meiko headed to the kitchen just as the café owner came out.

"Hello Miku." He said, noticing the pigtailed girl and her friends. "I didn't expect you to come back. Who are your friends?"

"This is Sonika and this is Haku." Miku gestured to each of her friends in turn. "But why didn't you expect to see me again?"

"Because you're rich"

Kaito's voice swept through the air, stopping whatever response the owner had been planning. All four of them turned to look at him, Miku and the owner with surprise, Haku with confusion, and Sonika with what could only be spite.

"Kaito, why are you…" Miku began.

"I'm just saying the truth." His voice sounded hateful, as if he were a completely different person from the kind man she had met the previous evening. "Rich people don't eat here, and you have no reason to when you could be eating at some fancy upper class restaurant because you can afford it."

"Why would I want to do that? Meiko cooks way better than anything I can get by spending a bunch of money uptown." Miku said, still shocked at Kaito's sudden change of behavior. Was he bipolar or something?

Kaito shrugged and slumped back down in his seat, not saying another word. The girls kept up a conversation with the owner until Meiko returned, carrying a large tray covered in different foods. Miku dug in as soon as her food was in front of her, but Haku and Sonika looked at theirs questioningly, as if unsure if they could trust a place like this. There were a lot of terrible people in that particular neighborhood, and they had been brought up not to trust people like that. But as soon as they each got a bite, they were devouring everything as quickly as Miku. Meiko and her father watched in satisfaction, glad to have good people in their café enjoying their food. When they were finished, they handed them their money and stood to leave.

"Going so soon?" the café owner sounded disappointed.

"We have to get home." Haku explained, feeling just as comfortable as Miku with the strangers. "Sorry about that."

"No big deal." Meiko said with a shrug. "I hope you girls will come back. We love company."

"Bye!" Miku and Haku said in unison as the three girls walked outside. They had walked only a block when Sonika opened her mouth.

"How are you so easy to trust them? How do you even know them?"

"I met them last night. And all I did was go in there, have a conversation, and eat some food. I'm not putting my life in their hands or anything."

"All I'm saying is that you should be on your guard around here. This is where the crime rate is highest."

"I'll be fine, Sonika." Miku assured her. "If they had wanted to do anything, they would have already."

"What about that Kaito guy?" Haku pointed out. "He seems kind of shady."

"That's really bugging me." Miku admitted. "He was so nice yesterday, but he's like a completely different person today. I don't know what happened."

…

Kaito stared at the ceiling, counting the bricks it took to make it. He had nothing better to do, it being that he couldn't stand. His mind kept wandering back to thoughts of Miku. She really was pretty, but he had to push away any attraction he felt toward her. He couldn't let her suffer the fate of his last girlfriend, not to mention that she was only sixteen. He was legally too old for her, and he had a million other reasons for staying away, so why had he felt so attracted to her? He had found that the only way to keep himself from doing anything that would hurt Miku was to show a sort of hostility toward her and her friends.

He hadn't meant anything he had said about Miku and her friends being rich enough as to not want to eat there, but the words had just come flowing out when he had searched for anything mean to say. His first thought had been of the purple haired man's cruelty toward Miku the previous night and the silence that had been Miku's response. He had been hoping for a similar reaction, but instead she had replied casually and her friend had given her the hostility. The girl had green hair and piercing deep eyes that shared their color with grass. She obviously had hated him from the start, even before she'd had any reason to. She had been the complete opposite of the albino girl, who had been shy seeming at first, but had quickly warmed up to Meiko and Mr. Sakine. Miku obviously had chosen well with her friends, one paranoid and protective and the other kind and trusting. Having opposite friends was good; it gave a person variety with their surroundings.

He groaned as he sat up, his head spinning. It was obvious that he was sick somehow, but who was there to help him? Meiko and her father didn't have enough money to help him, and they were the only friends he had. He leaned forward and rested his head on the table, his head a mess of emotions. There was no way that his life was going uphill from that point, but who said he deserved it? He hadn't known the Sakines forever, and there were things they didn't know about him. Dark things, terrible things that he knew he had to keep a secret. He had been hoping that he could leave what he had done behind and do what he could to become a better person. But it was becoming obvious that his karma had finally caught up with him after years of running away from it. He knew there was no escape, but he was also aware that he deserved everything that was coming for him.

He closed the two eyes that seemed to hold a sea within them, but that sea was a one of the tears that Kaito had been holding back for what had seemed his entire life. He wasn't planning on emptying that sea anytime soon; he had a strong resolve that was not easily broken. There was only one thing that had broken it since his childhood, the events of what had happened to the girl who had found him at the train station. That small portion of his life had been hacked short by what had seemed like a cleaver. The sea hadn't flowed free, but there had been the tiniest leak in the dam of empty lies he told himself all the time. He had fixed the leak in seconds, allowing the rest of his despair to flow behind the dam, where it would be unseen to the rest of the world's prying eyes. But he would always know it was there, the sadness that lurked behind his emotional mask of what varied between happiness and hostility. But that's just what happens when the small sliver of hope you have after losing everything is wrenched away from you, just because you let your guard down for the sake of a false love.

But that had only been the beginning of Kaito's karma, but he hadn't foreseen it. He had thrown up his mask and cloak of emotions in order to keep anything like that from ever happening again, but now his true karma was coming, and it was karma that would only destroy him, instead of wounding him at the cost of another being.

"The universe is fucked up." He murmured as be began to drift off, his head still pressed against the hard wood of the table.

* * *

**The Questions Cometh!**

**What is Mikuo doing that makes him such an asshole?**

**Did you like this extra long chapter? It took me long enough to write, so it must have had SOME positive effects.**

**Is the thought based idea of the story getting boring? I promise there will be more of a time lapse in the next chapter! I need to stop going day by day if I want to get through six months.**

**Was this type of chapter more interesting? It had more thoughts and less dialogue.**

**Kiyoteru remembers Lily! But from where? Why can't she remember him?**

**Why is Luka so closed off and emotionless? The only emotion she ever shows is embarrassment with the occasional laughter.**

**Should Miku be afraid of her "boyfriend"? What would you do in her situation?**

**What do you think Kaito did in the past to make him think he deserves the life and illness he had?**

**How is Miku going to "take away his toy" without revealing Mikuo's actions and her knowledge to her father?**

**Will Gakupo's past relationship with Galaco affect him in the future?**

**Are there any topics of the story (other than the obvious) that you are noticing? Think about Sonika, Haku, and Mikuo.**

**Are there any other stories you would compare this with? Think about movies, TV shows, books, songs, fairy tales, mangas/animes, old stories, plays, comics, etc. Please try to think of at least one, and I can think of three off the top of my head!**

* * *

**I love answering questions! If you have any about the story, my other work, or just me in general, feel free to ask! If you're enjoying this, I LUV U!**


	8. Chapter 7: One Month and a Night

Chapter Seven: The Tale of One Month and a Night, Budding Botany

One month went by, and Luka, Gakupo, Miku, Kaito, Lily, and Kiyoteru each had their own budding blossom inside of them, some more positive than others.

Luka and Gakupo continued their work, meeting every day to subject Gakupo to something different. Luka found out a lot about the man in that time, it being that she had spent half of that time interrogating Gakupo about his life. She had continued to hide her hair and shade her face, hoping that he wouldn't realize who she was. As far as she could tell, he hadn't suspected anything, but he was a strange and unpredictable man. He could very well be a skilled liar; Luka hadn't found that out yet.

Her flower was a soft snapdragon of a pale pink color. It wasn't threatening or menacing, as the name might imply, but instead gentile and beautiful, yet somehow unimpressive. It blended in with the rest of the bouquet, but very few stopped to sniff the faint scent of the snapdragon. But everyone was just too busy to stop and look inside this flower to see the occasional dead bee inside.

Gakupo was growing fond of his employer, constantly trying to amuse her or convince her to sing again, insisting upon her having a beautiful voice. He was still curious of her true appearance, but didn't pry into her business. He had followed her around willingly, answering anything she had to ask. She was beautiful, but he knew that their relationship would remain strictly as one of business.

Gakupo's flower was a drifting water lily who didn't want to mess with the current. He floated along with whatever Luka asked of him, but occasionally disrupted the flow of the stream when a frog or child disturbed it. It wasn't always stable, but it was trusting and grateful to the current as it floated along.

Miku continued to miss days of school, sometimes even several in a row. It was obvious to Haku and Sonika that matters were only worsening with her and her family, but there was nothing they could do about it. Mikuo was dragging her away more and more, trying to get as much time with her as he could before it happened. Every day when she left school, there he was outside the gate, waiting for her. She would do everything she resented, walking alone with him, kissing him, not speaking a word of protest for fear of what he would do. Miku disgusted herself for spending so much time at that bastard's house, in his basement, when his parents weren't home. It was horrible how much time he spent just feeling her up while she was half dressed on his basement couch, but she knew that she had no other choice.

Miku was a plastic flower, one of false beauties and perfections on the outside, but cold hard plastic when you decided to get close to it. She was just another beautifully helpless toy for children to play with, and eventually break. Unfortunately for Miku, most of the time she spent out of school could –for some reason- not be scheduled to happen during the time she spent in her "boyfriend's" basement while he played around with her. Thankfully, he hadn't been able to get her completely naked yet, but she was terrified of what would happen when that day came.

Kaito's illness –to his dismay- passed within a week of its coming. Meiko and her father had let him –at his request- out onto the streets again. He had remained there for less than a week before the fateful moment that saved Kaito from himself. Meiko had been walking home from the store when she noticed a trail of blood leading into an alley. Despite the dangers it posed, Meiko decided to follow the trail out of curiosity. She ended up finding Kaito, half dead with blow flowing out of both of his wrists. He had been unconscious, so she had dragged him back home, where her father had tended to his wounds. When he awoke, Meiko had assaulted him with questions, which he –not being able to lie to her- had regretfully and guiltily answered. He had apparently stolen a kitchen knife out of a bankrupt kitchen supply store, but it had been too small for him to stab himself, and he had been too drunk at the time to get a clear stab that wouldn't leave him with endless pain, but no death. He had apparently been drinking with several crooks behind a restaurant; the men had stolen the alcohol and offered some to a depressed Kaito, who had gratefully accepted. When Meiko had asked him why he had tried to kill himself, he had told her it had been an alcohol influenced action, which she –knowing him so well- hadn't believed, but had shrugged off after staring into her friend's eyes for a few moments.

Kaito's blossom hadn't been blossoming at all, but was a wilting blue rose. It had once been beautiful, but had been poisoned and punished so badly that it was barely clinging to its feeble existence. The very person who had destroyed the flower, Kaito had convinced himself that it had been him. He had attempted suicide not in a drunken fit, but out of his care for the plastic flower he had met in the café, and just kept coming back for some reason. He had tried to distance himself from her, but his foolish choice to try to kill himself while drunk had wound him up just as close as he had been before. He knew he liked her much more than he should, despite that she was a child. He couldn't believe it, but he knew it was true. He tried to ignore her when she came in to eat, but her soft and innocent features, long green hair that was slightly tinged with blue, gleeful blue eyes…But her eyes had been contrasting their past lately. On the day he had met her, those bright blue eyes had held nothing but happiness and energy, but every day after they had showed a deep sadness similar to that of his. Her eyes had betrayed the plastic smile she wore on her face like an emotional mask. Mr. Sakine and Meiko hadn't seemed to notice it, which had surprised Kaito. He wanted to know what was turning her lovely eyes into the same ocean as his, but he was afraid that speaking to her would spark something between them like it had the first time.

Lily had tried to "escape" a total of four times, which made about once a week. She had tried every tactic that came into her mind, but Kiyoteru always found her as she was on her way out. Her emotions were the rollercoaster of a pregnant woman, and the haunting memories that continued to creep into her mind weren't much help. It was as if every thought she had somehow led to her thinking of her past, which usually resulted in nausea if not vomiting. She had appreciated his taking care of her, but the guilt was eating her up from the inside out. She was a filthy slut living inside this kind rich man's beautiful apartment, and he was paying money for all kinds of things that she admittedly needed, but didn't want him sending money on.

Lily's flower had once been a beautifully untainted lily, but had been poisoned and burned down to ash. The flower had been reincarnated, but as a deadly flytrap. It had a beautiful sweet scent, but was truly full of lies and was a burden to care for. The flytrap hadn't meant to pull Kiyoteru in, but there they were, living together in one house. Lily knew that her presence would only bring trouble, but he refused to let her leave, attracted by the "sweet scent" of the flytrap.

Kiyoteru was exasperated with Lily's constant attempts to leave the apartment. She just wouldn't understand that she wasn't a burden, and that he _liked _helping her. He had felt as if they were becoming close over the time they spent together, but she still hadn't figured it out. He wanted her to remember. He wanted her to be able to look into his deep brown eyes and know just where she had seen them before, no matter what kind of people they had been when they met or under what terrible circumstances. He had spent the month hoping and praying that she would not only remember him, but remember how he had felt about her. But she was so heavily blinded by the smog of her focus for the escape attempts that she wouldn't stop to think about what Kiyoteru looked like. And he was sure that somewhere, in the dark corners of her mind where she pushed all of her unwanted memories, she remembered him.

Kiyoteru's flower was a gentle blue primrose, beautiful but soft and without thee thorns of a normal rose. He was as gentle as he could be with Lily, despite her behavior and attempts to leave. It wasn't that he was keeping her captive, but where would she go if she left him? The flower knew that its counterpart was withered and dead, a wisp of its former beauty, but it refused to admit to its previous knowledge of the latter. He wanted her to tell him when she wanted to, not admit to her that he already knew before she wanted him to.

…

"How are you feeling?"

Kaito looked up to see Meiko standing over him, her hands on her jean covered hips. He sighed and stood up, able to stand now. She was frowning at him, as if he had done something wrong. He knew she was still mad about the suicide incident, why else would she keep him on constant lockdown in the café? He sighed and allowed his head to loll back lazily on his shoulders and drop over the edge of his chair, long blue hair flipping out of his eyes. If she wasn't prepared to be nice, neither was he. He, in fact, had every right she had to be mad.

"Fine." He said in monotone.

Meiko's frown deepened, but she didn't speak again. She just sighed in exasperation and sat down across the table from Kaito. He didn't pull his head back up to look at her; he wasn't about to let her have the satisfaction of eye contact after what she had done. His life belonged to him, and that meant he had every right to do what he wanted with it. If that meant demolishing what little life that hadn't been sucked away at Miku's appearance, then so be it. Meiko had called it throwing his life away, but Kaito knew that she didn't know better. She didn't know about the man he had used to be, or about what had happened to his past lover.

She had been a beautiful girl with long, flowing hair that had always smelled of flowers. Her eyes had been the most beautiful shade of blue, one that had surpassed even Miku's. Her skin had been pale, yet utterly flawless and beautiful. She had walked with a sort of shy awkwardness that he had found just so adorable, but she had always been ashamed of. He remembered when she had found him, asleep under the bench. She had just been disembarking from the train when she had noticed his sleeping body and had given him a small bag of food, her lunch. He had watched her as she set it down next to him and backed away, thinking he was still unconscious until he decided to thank her without moving from his lying position. He had seen her flinch from under his barely opened eyelids, as if she thought he would do something to her. But he only sat up and grabbed the food, continuing to talk to her. After a few minutes of conversation (on top of the bench by this point), she had told him he was very kind and cute and that she wanted to see him again. He remembered the specific color of her blushing cheeks as she has said it, but he had only nodded and asked if she trusted him. She hadn't hesitated, but he had later found out that it was because she wasn't aware of the dangers of the city, her fatal flaw.

He remembered that hair, the color it had been before it burned. He remembered the way her perfect eyes and skin had looked after they had been burned to charcoal. He remembered pummeling the people who had done it all to her, kidnapping, beating, attempting to rape, and eventually burning her. He had stopped them from raping her, but not before one of the men had used a lighter to set a wooden board against the wall and toss it against the building the girl had been tied up inside of. He had tried to remove it, but the men who had attacked her had done their best to keep him away. The police had shown him the body, which had been unrecognizable as her.

Her name had been Megurine Luka, and she had died been brutally murdered inside an inescapable building with the only exit blocked by a board of burning wood. Kaito knew that she was dead, so why did he constantly think about her? No, he knew why. It was because everything that had happened to Luka was now going to happen to her, and he was absolutely horrified of that happening to another person.

…

The girl who had died in the fire was in an old bento restaurant with the man with the long purple hair. She had taken him there as part of her research, but he was teasing her that it was a date. She giggled as he used his chopsticks to toss a piece of salmon in the air and attempt to catch it in his mouth. Luka giggled at his failures, taking notes on his childish behavior that was truly a disguised form of his attempt to impress her.

"I don't see how you can do that." She commented. "How do you throw something with chopsticks?"

"How do you not?" he said, answering her question with another of the sort. "These things are so fun and distracting, how do you eat with them?"

"Your immaturity is beyond my comprehension." Luka said with a smile.

"As is your face." He said, flicking a piece of raw fish at her face, at which she cried out and wiped away in disgust. Gakupo laughed. "It is such an amazing target, it's hard to believe you don't do this for a living."

"If I become a target in the major league fish flinging tournament, you have to become a comedian."

"Like that will ever happen."

They both laughed as Gakupo popped another scrap of crab left over from his meal into his mouth. He wasn't a fan of salmon, so he had decided it made better ammunition to fling at his boss. She hadn't gotten mad at him yet, so he tested his luck a bit farther by picking up one of the soup spoons and filling it with rice. He then proceeded to launch it at Luka, who cried out in surprise and repulsion but was laughing just as hard as Gakupo a minute later. A waiter came over to their table to scold them, which left Luka staring deep into the wood of the table in front of her, as if looking for some secret behind the random lines and swirls in the mahogany. Gakupo apologized to the waiter, but laughed as soon as he was out of earshot. Luka looked up at him in surprise; what about being scolded was funny? Luka had never liked being reprimanded, which was due to her fear of almost anyone with a voice. She had learned that her disguise only protected her and made her feel confidant around Gakupo, but that was most likely because she knew that he would never accept her if she revealed who she was. It was frightening to think about, considering how close she felt she was becoming to Gakupo, but she knew that he wouldn't find out unless she told him.

As Gakupo laughed, Luka pulled out her wallet. The place wasn't expensive, but didn't want the waiter to give any trouble about taking money from Gakupo after he had turned their table into a salmon tossing ring. She set the money on the table and stood to leave, Gakupo noticing and following suit, his laughter dying down. Luka walked behind him, her head hanging and her eyes focused on the carpet, but Gakupo held his head high with a grin, occasionally adjusting it to glare at the odd wealthy man or woman.

As they stepped out into the cool post-sunset air, they were greeted by a variety of music from the street performers that ranged from cultural to rock singers and dancers. They walked along the sidewalk together, watching them and dropping money into the hats and guitar cases. Every performer was unique in some way, but there was one group that really stood out to Gakupo.

"Look at that!" he pointed toward four young children standing in a line as a fifth one set out a hat for people to drop their money into. Gakupo pulled Luka closer, allowing her to see that all four of them were horribly dirty and thin, obvious signs of homelessness. She watched as the fifth one joined the line and began to sing.

_"The first Alice was a gallant red one; wielding a sword in hand in the wonderland." _This girl appeared to be the oldest, looking to be about fourteen or fifteen. She had long blonde hair that faded into a sort of rainbow color, evidence of once having enough money to spend on non-necessities such as hair dye. Her clothes weren't more than rags, and her face and blonde locks were caked with dirt, but she stood tall and proudly as she sang in a beautiful voice that could have gotten her places.

_"This new Alice, deep in the woods; was trapped as a wanted fugitive." _Gakupo and Luka stood quietly on the sidewalk, watching the girl sing. Luka recognized the song, but she wondered why these children had chosen to sing something so creepy. Perhaps it meant something to them, or they felt it had something to do with their lives. There were many possibilities, but Luka was unable to rule out just one without speaking to them directly.

As the girl finished the first part, a boy stepped forward and began the second verse.

_"The second Alice was a fragile blue one; he sang to the world in the wonderland." _The boy's voice was much higher than the song called for, but he still hit all the notes, even if he was several octaves above what he should have been; he only looked about eleven. But it wasn't the boy's voice that caught Luka's attention; it was the bandages wrapped over one of his eyes. His dirty blonde locks fell over the bandages, trying in vain to cover them. As he raised one hand to adjust those bangs, Luka notices that he also had bandages around his wrists and his ankles too when she looked down at them. The boy was just as dirty as the first girl, but he looked much more self-conscious about it, or that may have been toward his bandages. People were staring at them and whispering as he continued to sing. _"This new Alice was that of a rose; he was shot and killed by a madman; it left a flower blooming sadly red; the one who was loved was now forgotten."_

_ "The third Alice was a little green one; very cute and dear in the wonderland; she charmed people to her every beck and call." _The third person to step forward was a tiny little girl who couldn't have been much older that eight or nine. She had tiny black pigtail and enormous brown eyes that heavily contrasted the blue eyes of the bandaged boy and the rainbow haired girl. Her voice was high and childlike, sounding as if it had been made for those lyrics. _"She was afraid of losing to death; she would forever rule her country."_

_ "Meanwhile, two children went into the woods." _A thin blonde girl who looked between twelve and fourteen stepped in front.

_"They had a tea party underneath the roses." _A boy that must have been the girl's twin stepped beside her. They looked almost exactly alike; with few differences other than their height and the way they wore their hair –the boy with it back in a tiny ponytail, the girl with it hanging to her shoulders.

_"An invitation from the castle to them was"_ the girl had a sweet and lovely voice.

_"The trump card…"_ the boy's was that of a young boy before puberty affected his voice.

_"Of hearts!"_ their voices together were like two pieces of a puzzle, fitting together perfectly. _"The fourth Alice was two siblings; filled with curiosity in the wonderland." _Luka and Gakupo felt as if these two had the most beautifully captivating voices. Their blonde hair and blue eyes were much more vibrant of a color that that of the first two singers, making them stand out even more. Luka found herself staring straight at the two, almost unable to look away.

_"The stubborn big sister" _

_ "And smart little brother"_

_ "Though they were the closest to Alice's Wonderland…."_

There was silence for a few seconds as the first three singers snuck up on these two, who stood frozen. They grabbed the twins from behind, causing all of the to sink to their knees as the twins were held onto by the first three. They all grinned in a way that sent chills down Luka's spine and sang in unison.

_"They were never awoken from their dream; forever they wandered in the wonderland." _

There was a short silence afterward before the onlookers began to applaud the children, dropping money into the hat that had been laid out by the girl whose hair faded into rainbow. Their smiles turned from creepy to genuine as they all released the twins and stood up. Luka found herself walking over to them, right past the hat. The tiny one with the dark hair was the first to notice her, and tugged on the sleeve of the oldest girl as she pointed at Luka.

"That was amazing." She praised the singers, who were all looking at her now. "What are your names?"

"I'm Mayu, the leader." The oldest girl said proudly.

"We never agreed on that!" the male twin argued. "Why would you get to be in charge anyway?"

"I'm the oldest, remember?" Mayu said, hands on her hips as she turned to the boy. "I'm older than you and Rin!"

"Whatever." The other twin, who must have been Rin, replies with a flick of her wrist. She then turned to Luka "I'm Rin, and that's my brother Len."

"I'm Oliver." The bandaged boy said, trying to detach the littlest girl from where she had grabbed his pants after releasing Mayu's sleeve. "And this is Yuki." He pointed to the girl with the leech-like grip on his ripped up cargo pants. She flinched and tried to hide behind him at the sound of her name. Luka smiled and pulled out her wallet, handing a large amount of money to Mayu. Every child's eyes grew huge at the sight of it.

"Here, you five need this more than I do." Luka said, looking over her shoulder to make sure Gakupo didn't see. She was relieved to see that he was still waiting for her on the sidewalk. She turned back to the kids and saw that they were speechless, staring at the money as if it were a piece of life in their hands. "I'll come back and visit you kids sometimes, okay?"

Mayu nodded, her blue eyes darting back and forth between Luka and the money she had given them. Luka turned and walked back to the waiting man with the ponytail.

…

During this time, Miku found herself in Sonika's basement, playing video games and shouting whenever they lost. Haku was waiting patiently for her turn as Miku and Sonika battled it out in _Mortal Kombat. _

"Ha ha! Yes!" Miku shouted as her character performed the fatality.

"Aw! I'm gonna get you for that one Hatsune!" Sonika threatened, dropping her controller and grabbing hold of Miku. Miku giggled wildly as Sonika tickled her, kicking and trying to break free of the green haired girl's grip. Haku laughed as she watched the episode, amused by Miku's lack of control over Sonika's attack.

All of a sudden, one of Miku's favorite songs started playing from what seemed like nowhere.

"Stop! Heh heh, stop it Sonika!" Miku said between giggles. "I need to answer my phone!"

Sonika complied, allowing Miku to walk over to her sleeping bag and grab out her cell phone. She sighed when she looked at the caller ID, but answered anyway.

"Hi" she said into the phone.

"Hey Miku!" the voice on the other end said cheerfully. "Where are you right now?"

"Sonika's house, why?"

"You're coming to my place."

Miku was silent for a moment, not knowing what to do.

"Why Mikuo?"

Silence on the other end.

"What did you just say to me?" a dangerous edge had crept into Mikuo's tone, which frightened Miku.

"N-nothing!" she stammered. "I-I just s-said I…."

"That's what I thought. Now get your ass over here Miku."

The line went dead, leaving Miku with a blank tone and the eyes of Haku and Sonika burning into her back. She groaned and turned to face them.

"I have to go see Mikuo."

"Fuck no!" Sonika cried the second the words were out of Miku's mouth. "He'll…."

"We can't be sure of what he's going to do." Miku reminded her friend. "I'm going, or else my life is only going to get worse."

"What if he tries to…." Haku began.

"If he tries anything, I'll lock myself in the bathroom and call my dad, then the police." She assured her friends. "But as far as I know, he doesn't want any of that yet. He'll hurt me if I don't come, and we don't have any evidence against him to stop him from doing so."

Haku and Sonika obviously were reluctant, but they both nodded and went back to the game as Miku grabbed her phone and walked out into the night. Mikuo didn't live far from Sonika, so she made her way to his house, knocking on the fancy wooden door when she arrived there.

"Miku?" his voice sounded distant, revealing to Miku that he was probably in the basement.

"Yeah." Miku called back, wondering where his parents were. They had been the reason Mikuo had never had Miku over at night before.

"Don't just stand there then!" he yelled back. She sighed and walked in, feeling only slight terror. She made her way through the entryway and over to the door that led to the basement. She went down the stairs to find Mikuo lying on the couch, shirtless as he watched some movie Miku had never heard of. He looked up when she walked in.

"Come here." He commanded. Miku obliged, walking over and lying down with him on the couch. "My parents are out watching some play. They won't be back for a few hours." The words were whispered into her ear as he snaked his hand up into her shirt. His other hand followed the example of the first until both of his hands were inside her shirt. He pulled it over her head, revealing her lacy green bra. He pulled her in so that she was practically on top of him as he began to kiss her. She returned the kiss, pretending to be enjoying everything he was doing to her. In reality she was terrified and disgusted, feeling his dirty hands all over the soft curves of her body. She tried not to wince as she felt him remove her skirt, not even breaking their repetitive kisses. She tried to relax; Mikuo would know something was up if he realized how tense her muscles were. But he didn't seem to notice anything other than her chest, which one of his hands was exploring as the other held her in a firm grip to keep her from escaping.

They remained like that for a while, kissing as he ran his dirty hands all over her body. She was used to this, but it didn't make her feel any less repulsed. She nearly gasped when she felt his disgusting hands travel up her spine to the hook of her bra. She closed her eyes as if it might make the situation go away, but he still grabbed the hook and started fiddling with it. She remained with her lips against his and her arms around his neck as she felt him unhook and remove her bra. Her breasts were now free for his hand to roam, but every moment of it made Miku feel more like violated and closer to vomiting.

He didn't remove her panties, but he did spend the next two hours with his hands all over her, feeling her up. The kiss was off and on, sometimes they were kissing and other times he was putting all of his focus into grabbing and touching and feeling her breasts and inside her panties. She wanted to get away from him, but she knew very well that there was no escape.

She hated Mikuo, but what could she do about him? She was his sex toy, just something to touch and violate and kiss and abuse. There was nothing she could do about the grubby hands that were all over her body or the forceful lips that almost seemed to be bruising her. She was trapped by him, and she knew it.

…

Lily sat up and looked around the apartment. The room was dark, it being that it was after midnight. She stood from where she had been lying on the couch and stretched, placing one hand over her abdomen. She had promised Kiyoteru that she wouldn't try to escape again, but this was her perfect opportunity.

She changed into a black cotton t-shirt, a pair of dark washed jeans, and a grey sweatshirt. She pulled on a pair of hiking boots Kiyoteru had bought her and stuffed her things into a plastic shopping bag. She listened to make sure Kiyoteru was still sleeping before slowly opening the door and slipping out into the hallway.

She ran down the hall, hoping to make it out before he woke up and realized she was gone. She ran to the stairwell and practically flew down to the first floor, worrying that the elevator would have been too slow. She ran into the lobby and out the front door.

The crisp night air bit at the exposed flesh on her face, so she pulled up the hood of the sweatshirt. She started running down the street, which was practically abandoned except for the few sleeping people who had nowhere better to go. It was eerie, as if the normal buzz of life that inhabited the streets had vanished, leaving Lily all alone as she ran down the street. The cold air swept into her lungs with every heavy breath she took, showing her that it could attack from the inside too. Her body heated up from the exercise, causing her cheeks to radiate a bright red color. She ran for ten minutes before finally slowing to walk and stopping not a minute later. She bent over to catch her breath, clutching her torso as if it were the only thing that mattered. She still hated the fetus, but what would she accomplish in letting it die? She had convinced herself that she would be doing it a favor, but she wasn't so sure anymore.

As soon as she caught her breath, Lily began to walk through the dimly lit street, nothing but old streetlamps lighting her way. There were several fast food places and hotels that were still brightly lit and inviting looking, but Lily just found them to be annoying rejections waiting to happen. She was unable to go anywhere without being recognized, but she knew what might fix that.

Lily looked around as she walked, wondering if it was too good to be true. She had left the apartment successfully without being caught. Kiyoteru would be angry at her when he woke, but she knew it was for his own good. He would eventually realize that himself and move on from her. She was just another street child wasn't she?

She wandered into an alley and saw just what she was looking for. A window on an old flower shop had been smashed, leaving broken glass all over the ground. Lily searched in the dark and finally –after several bloody failures- managed to grab a shard that didn't rip up her skin. She lifted it and whispered a quick sentence before slicing through her hair, cutting it so it fell just fast her chin. She threw the shard to the ground, knowing that it was now stained with the warm, sticky liquid that was flowing from her sliced up hand. She felt at the unnatural seeming shortness of her blonde hair with her non-bloodied hand, realizing how easy it would have been to do such years ago. She sighed and walked farther into the alley, the glass shards crunching beneath her hiking boots.

As she walked, she used her bloody hand and smeared it all over her blonde hair. Whenever the blood flow seemed to be ending, she manage to squeeze a bit more out of the many cuts on her palm and wrist. When she decided that her hair was bloodied enough, the found a small corner, curled up in it, and fell asleep on the hard asphalt.

She was ready for anything.

* * *

**Damn...this got dirty really fast. Well it was rated M for a reason.**

**Sorry I took so long! School started up again and took over my life :P**

* * *

**Questions that probably one person will answer!**

**What is Lily planning now that she has "escaped"?**

**Why doesn't Mikuo have sex with Miku? (You're probably uncomfortable with that question, but hey! This is fanfiction.)**

**How will Mayu, Oliver, Yuki, Rin, and Len affect the story? (And they will!)**

**Do you like "Alice of Human Sacrifice" or should I have used a different song? I was trying to use one with at least five different parts so I could fit in these characters. I wasn't originally planning to introduce them all at once, but the opportunity presented itself.**

**Did anything in this chapter really piss you off and make you want to slap me? If yes, I will slap myself for you. **

**Will this story ever go anywhere?**

**Are you bored at this point? I know I suck at anything without action. That's why my last story was so popular!**

**Have you ever played Mortal Kombat? **

**What was your favorite part so far? Why? If you say all of it sucked, back up your statement and tell me why it sucks and how I can improve.**

**Should there be a version of "Alice of Human Sacrifice" using those characters? **

**Does anyone think the opening to "The Intense Singing of Hatsune Miku" sounds like the James Bond theme?**

* * *

**Follow me on twitter for updates on why I write so slowly! ClaireRainicorn**

**Check out the crap I post on youtube! (or don't, it really is crap) BabyRainicorn**

**Say hi on tumblr for more slow writing updates! babyrainicorn**

**Thank you so much for reading!**


	9. Chapter 8: Memories, Opinions, Emotions

Chapter Eight: Horrible Memories, Rebellious Opinions, and Chemical Emotions

The morning after, Lily awoke with an insane headache. She sat up, confused about where she was, and where Kiyoteru was. She had a horrible crick in her neck, so she reached up to rub it and felt something strange. Where was her hair? It wasn't flowing down her back like it usually did, but instead it ended just above her chin. She began feeling at the short stubs and realized that there was some sort of crust caking her hair. She frowned and used her fingernails to scrape some of it away. Upon examination, Lily found it to be a sort of brown-reddish color, flaking away on her fingertips.

She hauled herself to her feet, groaning when a sudden wave of dizziness hit her. She stumbled and grabbed onto a pipe that was attached to the brick wall next to her. She held the pipe in an iron grip as she forced her eyes shut, trying to overcome the tsunami of nausea and confusion that was in the middle of washing over her.

_Aw god, what did I do last night? _She laid a hand on her belly, feeling the four month old fetus lounging around inside of her. _You must be pretty happy in there, not having to do any of the work. All you do is sit around like a lazy bastard until I decide to feed you._

There was no response from the baby. Nothing even changed, as if it was ignoring her. She sighed at herself; why would it have answered her? What was the point in trying to provoke an unborn child without ears or any remote understanding of language?

When the dizziness passed, Lily straightened her back and started in the only direction there was to go. She appeared to be in an alley of some sort, but where? The walls were made from worn bricks of a dark rust color. The cement below her feet was uneven and covered in dirt, which she discovered upon seeing that her clothes were covered in a dark filth from sleeping on the ground. There was a stench floating lazily through the air that smelled like some kind of mixture of urine, alcohol, cigarette smoke, and car exhaust. She knew then that she was definitely in one of the poorer parts of the city, but she felt too ill to stay on guard.

She lurched to the side as another nauseous wave crashed down on her, soaking her entire body in the sick feeling. She crumpled to her knees and leaned forward, vomiting all over the empty alley. As the oddly colored fluid flowed out of her mouth, several memories flowed back into her head, as if it were all one river.

She had escaped from Kiyoteru's apartment the night before. She almost laughed at herself for not remembering that. She had finally done the man the kindness he had been forbidding her from doing him for the last month. She expected to feel some sense of accomplishment, or at least good about helping the stupid man, but none of that was there. All she felt was empty, and her stomach wasn't the only part of her feeling that way. It was as if her soul itself had released everything onto the concrete along with the vomit. All of her emotions had gone away, and left her with something she couldn't describe, but what felt almost like some form of longing. She couldn't quite understand it, so she tried to put it from her mind.

She forced her legs to stand and support her body. She pushed forward, staggering through the alley. Her vision was moving in and out of focus as she measured each step carefully to avoid tripping.

_I remember running away, but why do I feel like crap? Well, more so than usual anyway. Alright, think Lily, think. What happened after you left the apartment building?_

She pushed her mind to its limits, but was unable to come up with an answer. So she struggled onward through the alleyway at a snail's pace, the smallest movement requiring tons of focus and energy. Lily made her way through what to her was an endless tunnel of blurred colors and irritating smells. It became too much for her to handle, so she closed her eyes and placed her hand against the wall, feeling her way along the grooves of the brick textured wall.

The emptiness was still there, but Lily suppressed it with the little but of her strength she wasn't devoting to dragging her damaged body along the concrete. What reason was there to feel empty? She repaid the man who had saved her life by making everything easier and cheaper for him, her being out of the financial picture. She had only accomplished, nothing negative happening to her. So why could she still not feel satisfied?

When her parents had kicked her out three years before, she had been terrified and lost. There had been nowhere to go, no one to help her. She remembered clearly how she had collapsed on the street and cried her eyes out, hoping that it was all a nightmare and that she would wake up on the floor of her shabby apartment, with her mother right there to comfort her. Her mother had been a firm, tough woman, but she always saved a shoulder for Lily to cry on when she was upset or scared. She had protected Lily, but hadn't coddled her due to the fact that she knew the girl would be on her own someday. Lily still didn't know if she had known how soon that would be.

…

_It was raining. Lily had just ran through the pouring sky water when she arrived home. Right as she reached for the doorknob, a rough hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. Lily was momentarily stunned, but quickly got over it._

_ "Papa?" she asked the tall, gruff man before her. His facial expression looked as if something was eating away at him from the inside until there was nothing left except the outer shell. "What's wrong?"_

_ "Come on." He grabbed her wrist and started dragging her away from the apartment. She didn't struggle, but instead jogged lightly to avoid being smeared all over the pavement. He pulled her through the gutter of the town they had lived in for what had seemed like hours. She had gone quietly and willingly the entire way, having no idea where he was taking her._

_ When they arrived outside of a small convenience store, her father abruptly stopped walking but didn't turn to face Lily. She was scared and confused, having no idea what was about to happen._

_ "Papa?" she asked him nervously._

_ He didn't react; he only stood there, shoulders trembling and breathing ragged. Lily realized with a shock that he was crying. Her father never cried, ever. Lily was terrified to think of what could possibly be causing the strongest man in the world to cry._

_ "What's wrong?" Lily was really scared now._

_ "I…." the words sounded strangled, as if he were choking on his own voice. "I need you to take this." He turned around and handed her a folded up piece of paper. She tried to make eye contact with him, but he wouldn't meet her gaze, just staring at the ground. "Don't open it yet; I need you to do something first."_

_ "What is it?" she was filled with terror, waiting for the final strike of the monster that was her dread._

_ "I want you to close your eyes and count to ten, then open them and…" he choked up, and Lily saw tears drip from his eyes, across the bridge of his nose, and off his chin. He made no effort to wipe them away, but he bowed his head so Lily wouldn't have to see them. He took deep, ragged breaths and spoke again "…and read the note."_

_ "I have a question papa."_

_ "What is it?"_

_ "When I open my eyes, are you going to be gone?"_

_ There was a long, deadly silence for what seemed like decades. Lily knew from that silence that there was no hope left. She began to cry herself, feeling scared and defeated. _

_ "You are going to leave me, aren't you?"_

_ "Lily…"_

_ "You and mom don't love me anymore, do you?"_

_ "You know that isn't true…."_

_ "Then why, papa? Why are you leaving me alone in a place where I don't know how to get home?"_

_ "Just close your eyes Lily."_

_ "But…"_

_ "I SAID CLOSE YOUR EYES!" he screamed, shoving his face so close to her that their tear stained noses were touching. His dark eyes bored into her blue ones, finally returning the gaze she had been giving him._

_ She was stunned, but closed her eyes as he had asked. Ten numbers later she opened her eyes to find him gone, and saw only strangers walking around her, not even giving her a second glance._

_ She was all alone, with no one to help her. Falling to her knees, she burst into a wild fit of sobbing and screaming. She cried and cried until random people began shouting at her and throwing bits of food. She would have cried until there were no more tears, but what people don't understand is that there are always more tears to cry. It isn't possible to run out of tears, because how would you cry the next time if you did?_

_ She opened the note and tried to read it through her tear blurred eyes. It was something about them not having enough money to support her anymore so she had to leave. She wasn't really focusing on anything other than the fact that she was now completely and utterly alone, with no one to comfort or even speak to her._

…

The memory was still fresh in Lily's mind, no matter how long ago it had happened. It was the kind of thing that a person never forgot, not even after several years. Her current situation was now so similar to that one, except this time she had chosen to leave, she was pregnant with a baby she didn't want, she wasn't sad or afraid, and the tears were being replaced with vomit.

Lily sighed and collapsed once again. She rolled over and looked at the rising sun once more before a wave of darkness overcame her.

…

"Leave me alone." Kaito snapped.

"I'm not an idiot, Kaito. I know something's up." Meiko crossed her arms. "I've seen the way you're looking at her."

"You know that nothing is going to happen there."

"Oh really? I've seen her giving you that same look, so why don't you just get up off your unconfident ass and actually talk to her again instead of treating her like a piece of dog crap on the sidewalk."

"Interesting comparison, I'm going to have to remember that one."

"You're such an asshole, you know that right?"

Kaito sighed and let his head drop onto the table in front of him. Meiko was one of his only friends, but she was a huge pain in the ass sometimes.

"Why do you even care about my love life? I have much worse things to worry about, you know?"

"It's not that I care about your love life; I care about your happiness." Meiko slowly eased into the booth next to him. "You may have a lot of problems with staying alive, but what would the point be if you weren't happy?"

"Hence my problem." He said, refusing to look at her. "What would becoming a problem in that innocent girl's life do to help my happiness? Or my sanity for that matter?"

"Kaito, what are you not telling me here?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I know you're hiding something. You're talking all about how you'd be this big problem in her life, but you leave out all the reasons why. You also sound as if you know this for sure, but what experience would you have to be sure of anything?"

Kaito was silent. He lifted his head and stared right into Meiko's eyes with a passion that burned straight into her soul. The sea of tears that was locked behind those eyes was boiling with a fire that she had never seen from him before. There was so much emotion and passion there that could only have been built up by true pain, which she knew he had gone through. But how much did she really know?

"You don't know me, not really." Kaito said as he stood abruptly. She pushed past her to get out of the booth and walked straight to the door and out of the café. Meiko didn't try to stop him, even though she knew that he was about to do something crazy. She wanted to go after him, but it was as if there was a barrier formed from her own emotions holding her back. She had thought she knew all there was to know about Shion Kaito, but obviously not. Of course, the thoughts had already bubbled up in her mind before Kaito had come out and said it, but there had been no doubts prior to that conversation. Meiko had always been good at reading people, which was how she had figured out Kaito's feelings for the pretty turquoise-haired teenager. But he was baffling her now, leaving her completely confused and slightly afraid.

What was there about him that she didn't know?

…

The indifference in his expression surprised her. He looked positively bored as the tattoo artist created the elaborate design on his forearm. She pulled out her note pad and began writing, noting that he was most likely experiencing pain but refused to show it as a way of looking tough. He watched her with his curious blue eyes, looking over what he could see of her features. Her hair was still tucked into her black beanie, and her facial features weren't strongly defined without makeup. He thought about Galaco and how she had always worn a thin layer of black eyeliner to contrast the light brown color of her irises along with an eye shadow to match her aforementioned irises. It had made her look beautiful, but Luka had a sort of natural beauty to her that didn't need makeup. Her features were soft and undefined, but he found it to be so in a way that was inconspicuous and non-flamboyant, but gorgeous all the same to anyone who took the time to notice her.

He wondered about her past as he ignored the pain from the tattoo needle. She obviously wasn't wealthy, but she wasn't poor either. She was somewhere in the middle, not on his level but not way above him either. She had told him that the money she was paying him with was a combination of money she had earned from the various jobs she'd had over the years and money she was barrowing from some distant relatives whom she had promised to pay back if her book sold. But where had she been born? Where did she live? What was her family like? These questions buzzed around in Gakupo's head, and he used them to preoccupy himself as the tattoo was applied.

"Hey Luka?" he asked, causing her to jump slightly. "Sorry, but I just wanted to ask you something."

"What?" she asked in a small voice, glancing at the tattoo artist.

"Are you okay with being here? You seem really, I don't know, uncomfortable."

"It's fine, really." She reassured him. "I'm just not a fan of pain and needles and that kind of thing."

"Alright." But Gakupo didn't buy it. The fact that they were in one of those small tattoo parlors that sits squeezed between two shops like it's trying to hide from someone was obviously making Luka nervous. The people inside were all muscular, tattooed and intimidating, not to mention that the room was dark and musty with only a few naked bulbs hanging from wires illuminating it. He couldn't ignore her discomfort, but if she was willing to wait until the tattoo was done, he would let her.

She had let him decide what he wanted to do, and he had chosen this. He had found it to be a good idea at first, it being that she had been making him try new things for the last month, so why couldn't he do the same to her, right? But he was now realizing how uncomfortable he was making her. She obviously had no experience with tattoo parlors, and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, yet she stayed and told him it was fine. Why?

When the tattoo was finished, he stood and walked over to Luka, who was engrossed in her writing. He put his arm around her, startling her and causing her to gasp slightly. He laughed and handed a wad of money to the tattoo artist before leading a still surprised Luka out of the parlor.

Once they were outside, she looked up at him, as if she was expecting him to let go. But he didn't, he only pulled her closer to his lean and lightly muscled form. He smiled at her and saw her cheeks turn pink, which caused him to laugh delightedly. He didn't care if he was embarrassing her; she needed to stop acting so tense around everyone as if she expected an attack from every person she saw.

They walked through the streets, Gakupo smirking and Luka trying to hide. He had a sort of delighted feeling that was brought on by her adorable blushing. She was a scared little mouse who hid from everything that came to close, but someone had finally grabbed hold of her and prevented her from fleeing.

"Your shoulders are warm." Gakupo said casually.

She looked at him strangely and tried to reply, but all that came out was a small squeak. He laughed and pulled her closer to him, turning up the color dial on her cheeks.

"That isn't a bad thing you know, and I'm not talking about having warm shoulders."

She frowned slightly, not understanding what he meant. He smiled and rubbed her upper arm, trying to get her to relax.

"Your shyness, it isn't a bad thing. It probably would be pretty convenient for me in some cases if I had it. I have no shyness or shame, so I freak out and scream at people a lot. I've made a lot of enemies like that, and there isn't much left of the world for me to care about.

"In fact, I hate the world. I hate how people like us are completely ignored by all those high and mighty rich bastards who waste all their money on pleasing themselves and their spoiled children. I don't know about you, but I HAVE been homeless in the past, and it made me realize just how many horrible and disgusting people there are out there. I didn't know before then that there was no hope for humanity, but I do now, and I hate everyone for it. Truth be told, you are one of the only people who hasn't given me a reason to hate you yet. I want to think that you never will, but I've made that mistake before, and I know how it turns out. You trust someone and let them be close to you, and you're just setting yourself up to be disappointed. What hope does anyone have in a world filled with people who only lie and destroy and help themselves, doing nothing for the good of others who need the extra help. There are two types of wealthy people in this world, Luka; the people who lie and cheat and do whatever it takes to get what they want, and the people who like to think they'd want to help, but are too lazy to get their hands dirty. The rest of us are left to fend for ourselves, and some resort to terrible things like stealing and killing to get by, while others know they don't have much time, so they make the most of their lives with rape and other fucked up crap.

"There is nothing left to hope for, whether it be for someone to care about you or for someone to help you, nothing is going to go your way."

Luka was silent. She hadn't expected something like that out of the man who had been so happy and carefree a minute ago, Gakupo could tell. He had frightened her somehow, but he wasn't ashamed by it. She needed to understand what the world was like, that it was more than tattoos and roller-skating and watching street performers. But she looked as if something inside her had changed, as if she was a different person from the scared little girl who had been there a minute ago.

"Humans are naturally frightened by what they don't understand and by things that are different from what they are used to." Luka said quietly.

"Are you considering yourself?" Gakupo asked.

She didn't respond, only stared at the floor. He smiled and bent over to kiss the top of her head. His lips met her soft beanie, which wasn't much more interesting than kissing the carpet.

Luka, however, stared up at him in shock. She obviously hadn't been expecting him to do that, but he just grinned at her as if nothing had happened.

"Come on, aren't we going somewhere?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

She recollected herself and nodded, pulling away from his grip and leading the way.

…

His grip was like an iron clamp closing down on her arm. She tried her hardest not to wince at the pain, knowing that it would only provoke him further. She tried to keep up as he practically dragged her through the streets, few people being considerate to stop and look at the blue haired boy dragging his girlfriend down the street and into an alley. He pulled her into the shadows and threw her against a wall, where she crumpled to the ground, not wanting to look at him.

"You think you can do that to me?" his tone was low and deadly, like a snake rearing up to strike at a bird. The bird stared at the ground, terrified of the inevitable. She mumbled something that sounded like an apology. "What was that, beautiful?" the voice became smooth and melty, like butter. He bent down and reached for her throat, wrapping his smooth fingers around it gently. "Did you just say something?"

"I…I…" the little bird girl stuttered, not knowing what to say.

"That isn't an answer." His gentile grip slowly began to tighten around her throat, cutting off her oxygen. "I want to know what you said just a second ago, pretty lady." There was no change to his seductive, calm tone.

"I…I said that….I'm really…." The girl began to choke, unable to speak anymore for the fist slowly crushing her windpipe.

"You're really what, beautiful?" his voice wasn't angry, but instead sounded amused in an evil way. "You're really don't like being my girl? You're really fed up with this? Well I can tell you that it's not gonna stop, baby. You belong to me, and you will until that damn day comes in February. But you're mine for the next five months, and do you know what I'll do if you try to run away?"

He released her neck, causing her to take in air in shuddering gasps after she finished coughing. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"You will take me to the train and bring me far away where no one can get me." Miku finished for him.

"That's right." He said with a smile that absolutely radiated evil. His voice wasn't angry, but had a dominance to it that chilled Miku to the bone.

"I'm sorry Mikuo." She said quietly.

"For?"

"For putting my clothes back on while you were in the bathroom."

He smirked and ran a finger along her cheek, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. She did her best not to flinch, and moved forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him closer, and kissed him. He returned the kiss, a sign that he had forgiven her.

The remained like that for a while, kissing as their knees pressed into the painfully hard concrete. His hands twisted into her hair, pulling off the hair ribbons and releasing her pigtails. Miku pushed herself through the pain of being in his arms, waiting for it to end.

Suddenly, she felt him pull away. She opened her eyes to see something shocking; Mikuo was gone. She stood and looked around to see him lying in a crumpled heap next to one of the walls. She took a few steps back uneasily as she saw the three older boys in leather standing over him. She ended up walking right into another body, which grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to the ground, causing her to cry out in pain and attracting the attention of the boys leaning over Mikuo. One of them left the other two and came over to Miku, leaning uncomfortably close to her.

"Who's this pretty thing?" he asked, a pleased smirk decorating his face.

"She was kissing him, wasn't she?" her captor said. "It's obviously his girl."

"Miku…?" Mikuo groaned as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He looked over to see the guy holding onto her. "Miku! Don't you touch….ugh!" one of the boys standing near him kicked him in the gut, causing him to convulse in pain and crumple back down. Miku returned her attention to the boy who was now inches from her face. He was much older than her, probably around nineteen or twenty. He had sharply defined features and shaggy hair of a silvery white color that hung over his face carelessly.

"So your name is Miku then?" he said with a low, cool voice. "What a pretty name for a pretty girl." He placed a hand on her cheek, rubbing his fingers over her skin. "This is a pretty nice girl you got here, Mikuo. You mind if we take her?"

"Leave….her….ALONE!" the last word was shouted as Mikuo quickly pulled himself to his feet and tried to run at the white haired boy. The two people who had been standing over him grabbed him and held him back. Mikuo used his free legs to kick at his captors' shins, but only succeeded in getting several hard punches to the head and gut. Miku screamed, resulting in the white haired boy slapping her across her cheek, jerking her head sideways. She slowly turned her neck to look back at him, staring fearfully into his merciless red eyes.

"Hey Dell, what do you want us to do with 'im?" one of the guys holding Mikuo, who was now unconscious, asked.

"Hold onto him, for now." The white haired boy, who must have been Dell, replied. "I want to see his face when he sees what we're gonna do to his girl."

Miku's eyes widened in fear. She had thought Mikuo was bad news, but this guy was obviously much worse. When he looked to her frightened expression, he smirked in satisfaction.

"Now now, pretty thing. We're not gonna hurt you, ain't that right boys?"

"Yeah, we just wanna play a little game." One of Mikuo's attackers said with a grin.

"Yep, it'll be plenty of fun." The other one snickered.

"You better not pull anything funny." The one holding Miku whispered into her ear. "Or I'll…."

The guy never finished his sentence. He was cut off by the sudden blur of deep blue hair and ripped black clothes.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" the blur screamed as it slammed into Dell, who was sent sprawling. The blur fell on top of the surprised gang leader and began ripping and tearing at him. Miku used her opportunity to kick her captor in the balls, causing him to cry out in pain and let her go.

She staggered away from him, trying to create some distance between them. But it was no use, because she just ended up running into one of the guys holding onto Mikuo. He released the arm of a still unconscious Mikuo and grabbed her, pulling her into what seemed like a really painful hug. She struggled against his grip, but he slugged her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

…

"Who the hell are you?" Dell demanded, shoving Kaito off of him.

"I'm Miku's friend, who are YOU, and why are you getting your dirty hands all over her?" Kaito sneered, jumping to his feet and standing his ground.

"Blue haired bastard owes me and my buddies here." Dell said, repeating Kaito's movements across from him. "He didn't pay us back, so we jumped him. We couldn't find any money on him, so we're taking his girl."

"Are you implying that all blue haired men are bastards?" Kaito gave a small, cocky smile.

"Seems like it." Dell said, looking Kaito up and down. "Why don't you just get lost so I don't have to hurt you, dumbass?"

"You're threatening me?" Kaito laughed. "You're hilarious, kid."

"Are you serious? I have three guys, plus myself. It's four against one, stupid."

"Is it?" Kaito looked up at the white haired kid with a certain intensity burning over the sea of tears in his eyes. It was the same intensity Meiko had seen in them before, except now it was fueled not by frustration but by pure, raw anger. The intensity caused the boy to falter, giving Kaito a small enough opening to charge at the boy and crush him against the wall. The boy's face contracted and twisted in pain as he coughed blood up onto Kaito's shoulder. The man who had first grabbed Miku dove at Kaito, but he released the kid and jumped to the side, causing the two of them to collide.

"Agh! Get off me you idiot!" the white haired guy shouted.

"Sorry, Dell!" the man shouted back. "It's not my fault he pulled that stunt!"

Dell shoved the heavy man aside and ran at Kaito with a loud roar. Kaito used his speed against him and punched him in the face, dodging Dell's punch at the same time. Dell's nose began spouting blood as he cried out in pain. The large man who had grabbed Miku first came up behind Kaito and kicked the small of his back. Kaito staggered forward, allowing Dell to get in front of him and give him a kick to the chest.

Kaito fell to the ground, shaking and coughing up blood mixed with mucus. He fell on his hands and knees, but Dell stomped on his back, crushing him beneath the insane force of his combat boot.

"Show the girl her friend." He heard Dell order as he tried to catch his breath. He heard Miku screaming in protest; they were doing something to her, he realized. He needed to help.

"Miku…" he said weakly, trying to push himself to his hands and knees again. But Dell wouldn't let him.

The last thing he remembered was the sound of Miku screaming his name.

…

Kiyoteru trudged back to his apartment in defeat. He had searched everywhere for Lily, but had been unable to find her.

He knew he should have watched over her; he knew he should have made sure she wouldn't get out.

He knew he shouldn't have let her have all that alcohol.

She had been completely drunk when they had both gone to sleep that night. He had taken her out and let her have a little champagne, but she had just kept asking the waiter for more and more until she was more than a little tipsy. Who knew what she might have done once she got out of the building. She could even have been dead.

But what could he do? He had been searching for hours and hadn't found her. She was most likely sober by now, but certainly hung-over. It was hard to think of, especially how it might have affected her child. He knew more about math then he did about pregnancy, but it couldn't have been a good thing to do.

He sighed as he walked into his familiar home with its fancy wallpaper and elaborately carved furniture. Nothing much ever changed in his apartment, but what did that matter if his life did all the changing he needed?

Lily hadn't figured it out, but what could he do about it? He had been planning that night to tell her in the morning, but then she had run off. He knew that if he had just told her first, she might have stayed…

No, who did he think he was kidding? Lily had been completely drunk, so what would a few meaningless sounds of human communication change? Nothing ever really reached a drunken person, and even if she had known before she drank all that champagne, it wouldn't have made much difference.

He felt defeated, as if there was nothing left he hadn't already failed at. He hadn't had enough courage to tell her the truth, he hadn't been able to keep her sober, and he hadn't been able to keep her from running away. What else was there for him to fail at? The job he had been unable to acquire seemed meaningless now compared to all his other failures.

He fell face down on his couch, hating himself. The cushions smelled like alcohol and sweat. Although disgusting, it was all he had to remember Lily. She hadn't left a note or anything, but how could an illiterate girl accomplish something such as that? He felt so stupid; would he really do anything now other than fail?

"I deserve to die." He said to an empty room. He felt the tears welling up in his eyes, dripping out and onto the brown cushions. He released several shuddering sobs, but it all made him hate himself even more. What kind of grown man was he if he was lying on his couch and weeping in self-pity? He felt horrible, even worse than the time where he had almost hit her with his briefcase….

He even hated himself for what he had done to her back then, over and over again. He had done what anyone in his family would hate him for doing, and he was horribly ashamed of it. But what he had done out of greed at first had quickly turned into something he had done out of what had seemed like one sided love.

He just wanted to do it one more time, because he was a horrible, selfish man who was in love with a former prostitute.

* * *

**Answer Questions! It's what all the cool people are doing these days.**

**What are your thoughts on Mikuo, Kaito, and Dell after the fight? Think about their behavior and dialogue?**

**Am I the only one who thinks that there is a scary resemblance between Dell and Soul Eater?**

**What information are you taking out of Kiyoteru's thoughts about Lily?**

**How does Lily's alcohol consumption compare with her behavior at the begining of the chapter? What about when she ran away? Did she seem drunk?**

**Is there anything you're confused about that has already been explained, but you didn't entirely understand it?**

**Am I the only one who didn't know this was an iphone app until just a few days ago? (I'm really stupid)**

**Why is Meiko so interested in Kaito's life and keeping him happy? **

**What did Gakupo get a tattoo of? **

**How will Gakupo's sharing of his opinion affect Luka's secrecy toward him?**

**Should I start a theme of incorporating jokes about song titles into my chapter titles like I did with this chapter and the last one? **

**Am I causing you to implode with my updates getting later and later? Well between school, soccer, clarinet, and my acting class, I've got plenty of shit to do. I'll try to update at least weekly.**

**Are you prepared to be overloaded with emotions? Because you will be...:)**

**Do you like musicals? What are your favorites?**

**Ask me anything you want to know in a review! I'll either answer in a PM or in the next chapter or possibly a YT video if I feel up to it.**

**Toodle-loo until next week!**


	10. Chapter 9: Fear, Pain, Love, Worry, etc

Chapter Nine: Fear, Pain, Love, Worry, Denial, and Insanity

"Leave him alone!" Miku screamed, trying to break free from the heavily muscled man's grasp. He only laughed at her and tightened his grip around her arms and abdomen. She tried to kick his shins, but every kick resulted in a punch to the head from the hand that wasn't being used to restrain her.

She was facing toward where Dell had a foot placed on top of Kaito's back, crushing his motionless body. She struggled and screamed, trying to escape the grasp of the man who held her captive. As a result, he used his free hand to grab and squeeze her already damaged throat.

"Now then," he whispered into her ear "We don't want anyone to hear you and get hurt like they did, now do we?"

Black spots began to appear over her vision as he crushed her neck. She tried to focus, but he was killing her. She wiggled her wrist into her pocket, grabbing her cell phone. She dialed the emergency number and hit the talk button just as the black dots overcame her vision and the pain faded into numbness.

There was nothing left to her, nothing at all.

…

His arm was still casually draped over her shoulders. His bare skin was cool and rough against when it met her neck, but his touch itself was gentle and kind.

It had been a frightening shock when he had first put his arm around her, as if they were together or something. She still didn't believe that there was any such thing as love, but there was definitely some sort of attraction going on. Luka was afraid of relationships just like she was afraid of friendships, but Gakupo was so kind to her. His rants about the upper class often made her feel bad, but she always reminded herself that they were not directed at her, for he was unaware of who she really was.

That was beginning to bother Luka. She was beginning to feel so close to a man who had no idea who she was or what she even really looked like. He had no idea that there was a long pink braid tucked up inside her hat, or that she was the very same girl whom he and Galaco had ridiculed that morning in the music store over a month before. What would he possibly think of her if he ever….

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

The voice was high and sharp, as if it was partially deprived of oxygen. The sound of it froze Gakupo and Luka in their tracks. Luka looked up at Gakupo as she felt his arm tighten protectively around her shoulders.

"What was that?" a slightly frightened Luka asked Gakupo.

"A shout." His voice was urgent and humorless. "Could you tell where it was coming from?"

"I…"

A high pitched series of screams rang through the air. It was an odd combination of things along the line of "let go of me" and banshee like shrieks and wails.

Gakupo didn't waste another second. He let go of Luka and began to run in the direction of the screams source. Luka was terrified, but she found herself tearing through the streets after him.

They ran until they reached a shadow brimmed alley several blocks away. Luka found herself panting with exhaustion, not being used to running long distances. She started to move toward the alley and felt a hand bury itself in the back of her sweatshirt and yank her back. She almost screamed, but a calloused hand was soon covering her mouth. She was absolutely terrified until the hands that had grabbed her spun her around, and there was Gakupo.

"What is wrong with you?" his voice was a swell of steam from a pot of boiling water, barely and badly suppressed by a flimsy lid on the pot. Luka shrank back to find that he still had a firm grip on the back of her sweatshirt, and he wasn't about to let her go anywhere. "When you hear someone screaming, you don't just go walk casually toward it!" He stared into her eyes for a moment, as if waiting for a response, before swinging her around and setting her down so that he was between her and the alley. They were pressed up against the wall so that no one within the shadowy alley had any view of them, and Luka was in some sort of absolute terror and confusion.

"What are you going to do?" she asked him.

"Do you have your phone?" he asked, ignoring her question. She nodded, and he went on. "Call the police. I'm going to confront whoever is in there, and I want you to stay here and wait for them to arrive. If anything happens to me, get out of here as fast as you can."

"You can't be serious!" she cried, grabbing hold of his shirt as of it would stop him. "Risking your life for some stranger? Why are you being so thoughtless and stupid?"

"Shut up, Luka!" he hissed at her. He pulled her close until their noses were almost smashed against each other. "Just do what I told you to do. Don't be an idiot."

She stared, wide-eyed, at him for a moment before nodding in defeat. He could be frightening when he wanted to, that was what she was learning about Gakupo. But there was also something she slightly enjoyed about her face being so close to his, though she scolded herself for being so girlishly foolish during a situation of that sort. She was scared, but held the gaze of his strong blue eyes as they bored back into hers.

Then he did the last thing she expected.

He grabbed her face and pulled her lips to meet his.

…

He wasn't thinking. He wasn't caring. He had done it completely impulsively, and yet he found that it was what he had been wanting since the day they had begun working together.

He had to force himself to pull away from the kiss he had forced on her, reminding himself what he had to do. He saw the shock on her face, but there was no displeasure in it. She only looked scared.

He spun on his heel and walked into the alley, leaving Luka –who was still staring in shock- behind him.

He entered the shadows, seeing four shady looking guys. Three of them each had hold of an unconscious person, and the fourth seemed to be ordering them around. None of them had seen him yet, but he could now see them very clearly and realized that he recognized two of the limp bodies that were being pulled around like old puppets. One was the blue haired homeless man Kaito who he had seen whenever he had gone to the diner. A large, burly man was dragging him along the cement, not caring as his body was scraped up. The other was the rich girl with the long, greenish hair who had supposedly saved Kaito's life. A heavily muscled man carried her under his arm like she was an old bag. He still found that he hated her, but not enough to just let those men do whatever they were planning to her.

As he came closer, the third man who was dragging a boy with pale blue hair around noticed him. He leaned over and whispered to the guy who looked like the boss, pointing toward Gakupo. The guy turned to look at him, his gaze rolling up and down Gakupo's body, as if wondering if he was a threat.

"Hey ponytail." He finally called, waving at Gakupo in a way that was anything but friendly. "You better get out of here if you know what's good for you."

"Whaddaya got there?" he asked, grinning at the guys as he pointed in Miku's direction. "She looks nice."

"None of your goddamn business" The burly man who dragged Kaito by the arm answered, squinting at Gakupo suspiciously.

"Now Al, there is no need to be so rude." The white haired boy said with a sly smile. "This man is only asking us about our girl." He turned from the man who must have been Al to Gakupo. "Why are you asking about my girl?"

"I don't know," Gakupo shrugged. "Maybe because she's knocked out and your buddy's baggage?"

The white haired boy laughed, as if Gakupo was joking. His smile became smaller and tighter in response, letting the boy know that it wasn't a joke.

"Look buddy, this isn't anything you need to be concerned about. So why don't you just go on home and not tell anyone about this, huh?" the white haired boy crossed his arms, his amused look never faltering. "Or maybe I'll have to do the same thing we did to these guys who got in our way." He gestured to where Kaito and the blue haired boy with a wide sweep of his arm.

"Are you expecting me to try and get in your way?" Gakupo asked, reaching behind his head to re-tie his ponytail. He closed his eyes and smiled as he did so, as if he knew something the other guys didn't.

"Yeah, we are." Al said, leaning against the wall of cement beside him.

"Well," Gakupo opened his eyes, and just for a moment a spark of danger flashed across them. "I guess you would be right then."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Gakupo flew across the few feet that had been separating him and the white haired leader. His fist collided with the boy's chest and caused him to stagger backward in surprise and pain. This gave Gakupo another opening, so he closed the space the guy had just put between them and kicked him right in the middle of his abdomen. The boy doubled over, clutching his stomach, and fell to his knees. Gakupo was about to kick his head when a hand grabbed him from behind and threw him backwards, causing his back to slam into the wall. He looked up to see Al coming at him, ready to send a knocking blow that may have heavily damaged Gakupo's skull. He dropped to the ground, causing Al's fist to crash into the wall behind him. He listened to the man's scream of pain as he curled up and rolled to the side. He jumped to his feet and swept his leg behind both of Al's knees, causing him to fall to the ground. He then kicked his attacker behind his head, drawing a satisfying cry of pain from him as might be heard from an injured dog.

A killer blow hit Gakupo behind his head, causing him to stagger forward. His vision blurred for a moment, allowing two pairs of hands to grab him from behind. He felt himself thrown to the ground and pummeled from the backside as he crouched there, doubled over to protect his face and front side. He sat there, letting his vision clear as he was assaulted from behind.

Eventually they stopped and took a few steps back. They watched Gakupo carefully as if they were unsure of what he would do next. He didn't move, but instead remained in the hunched over position he had been in a moment before. The white haired boy, who had recovered himself, came up behind and kicked Gakupo over, causing him to fall like an old ragdoll.

The white haired boy laughed.

"You can't say I didn't warn you, ponytail."

Gakupo didn't move. He just lied there with his face pressing into the rugged concrete. He wasn't sure where Luka was or what she was doing, but he hoped that she had gotten out of there by then.

There was a sudden shock of a hard blow to his temple. He winced in pain, trying to avoid showing any reaction to the white-headed boy's kick. He remained perfectly still, trying to keep the element of surprise.

"You really are tricky, aren't you?" he could hear the boy's footsteps slowly circling around him. "Acting the way you did when you showed your face here. I'm surprised you even wanted to come after what happened, _Gakupo._"

Gakupo flinched. He hoped that the boy hadn't seen it, but it was a hopeless desire. The footsteps stopped and the boy grabbed him, lifting him by his shoulders, and forcing Gakupo to meet his eyes.

"You've gotten quite a bit stronger than the last time I saw you, Dell." He grinned dopily, which caused him to be the victim of a slap across his face.

"And you've become a big coward." Dell said, grinning like a psycho. "What happened to the Gakupo who I used to know?"

Gakupo twisted out of Dell's grip and spun him around before flipping him over his shoulder, sending him crashing into the ground. He then stomped on his exposed stomach, creating a gurgling and retching sound that erupted from Dell's lips along with the small fountain of blood. Gakupo dug his heel further into the boy's abdomen as his accomplices began to run at him.

"He grew up."

Gakupo heard the sound of a pair of heavily burdened feet clomping toward him. He looked up and grinned as Al tripped, knowing the cause.

"What the…" Al turned to see that Kaito had awakened and grabbed onto his ankle. He had a crazy grin on his face as he pounced at the large man.

The other two split up, one running to help Al and the other to attack Gakupo. Gakupo smiled and dug his heel even farther into Dell's stomach, putting as much of his weight into his foot as he could. He used his free foot to kick out at his advancing opponent, nailing him in his soft spot. The man winced in pain, freezing for a second and allowing Gakupo to knock him off balance with a kick to the chest. The man quickly recovered and jumped on top of Gakupo, knocking him off of Dell. He wrestled him to the ground and grappled with him there just as the sirens became audible.

…

Kaito was quicker than his opponents, which had allowed him to fight without worsening his current injuries. He dodged in and out, avoiding the punches and kicks of the two man who were on the offensive as often as he could.

When the sound of sirens came within earshot, the two men turned and ran, leaving Kaito to fall to the ground in exhaustion and pain. He turned and saw the man grappling with Gakupo push him off and grab Dell before running off.

Kaito crawled over to where one of the men had dropped Miku. She was still unconscious and had horrible bruises forming around her throat. He lifted her up and struggled to his feet, looking over to where Gakupo was limping toward him.

"Thanks, man" he said once they had reached each other. "If you hadn't come, I'd probably be dead, and they would've already raped Miku."

"Just remember that I came to help you, not her." Gakupo said bitterly, dragging a sigh out of Kaito, who was too tired to argue with him.

"Whatever. Was it you who called the authorities?"

"No, it must have been a friend of mine." He looked to the streets and listened to the sirens as they grew louder. "We need to move these two. I'll go grab the boy."

Kaito nodded and carried Miku weakly out of the alley. He collapsed with her in his arms on the sidewalk, attracting the attention of a few people. Gakupo soon joined him with the blue haired boy, and they waited in silence for the source of the sirens to arrive.

When the cars capped with flashing light finally arrived, two armed men emerged from one of them, followed by Luka. She immediately ran from her escorts and over to Gakupo, who stood and pulled her into an embrace.

"You're alive." She sobbed into his shoulder. It stunned him that she had been just as worried about him as he had been about her. He held her, the blue haired boy pushed aside and forgotten. She pulled her face out of his shirt and looked up at him. "You're bleeding. Are you okay?" Her voice was choking on suppressed sobs.

"Just fine" He whispered to her, ignoring the pain that rippled through his body as he pulled her thin frame closer. She wrapped his arms around his neck, using his chest to suppress her shaky, relieved sobs. He didn't care about the pain that swelled through him as she did so. All that mattered to him in that moment was Luka.

"We're taking you to a hospital." She said, pulling out of the embrace and grabbing him by his hand. "You and everyone else here"

Gakupo wanted to argue, but knew that it was pointless when Luka had logic on her side. He sighed and nodded, looking to see where two ambulances had pulled up and paramedics were lifting Miku and the blue haired boy onto stretchers and carrying them into one of the ambulances. One of them offered to bring Kaito in similarly, but he denied them, saying that he had no money to go to the hospital.

The waves of pain were worsening, and Gakupo soon found that he couldn't stand. One of the medics asked if she could help him into the ambulance, but he waved her away, insisting that Luka was all he needed. She half carried him into the second ambulance, handing him off to the medics inside once they were there. A woman with blonde curls asked if she wanted a ride with her in the police car, but Gakupo grabbed her hand from where he lay on a cot, refusing to let her go anywhere.

"Luka?" he asked after the woman had left.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you come back in the car?"

"My phone died, so I had to run all the way to the police station to get help."

"Well you came just in time. Those guys heard the sirens and ran like the cowards they are. I'm pretty sure I would have died if you hadn't shown up when you did."

Luka gave a small smile and looked out of the back of the ambulance, which was still open. She could see some investigators interrogating Kaito on what had happened and what the attackers had looked like.

"Who are these people?" she asked him. "Do you know them?"

"I know the man out there." He sat up on the cot, waving away the nurses who were trying to keep him still in order to keep his injuries from worsening. "He's homeless. His name is Kaito, and he is probably the most selfless man I have ever met. I see him a lot at that café Mr. Sakine and Meiko own. They take care of homeless people when they need somewhere to stay for a while before they can get back on their feet. Kaito has been staying there for the last month."

"What about the other two?"

"Some rich girl that eats at the café a lot, but I'm not exactly a fan of her. I don't know who the guy is, maybe her brother or something."

"Oh" Luka was quiet as the ambulance doors closed and the engine started up. She stood by the side of his cot, it being that he wouldn't let go of her hand. The medics hovered around him, asking him pointless questions about how much pain he felt and how he would rate it. Luka found herself thinking a fleeting thought of how she should be taking notes on this, but realized that she had no urge or reason to do so. All in that moment, Gakupo mattered more than anything to her, and anything that would distract her seemed wrong and unimportant.

Gakupo was obviously terribly injured, but what could she do about it? All these medics were professionals and knew what they were doing, so why did Gakupo only want her there? He held her hand in a way that was gentile enough to not hurt her, but firm enough so that she knew that he wasn't about to let go for anything.

Gakupo saw her eyes widen as one of the medics pulled out a large needle. He squeezed her hand lightly, getting her attention back.

"Not a fan of needles?"

"How did you guess?" she laughed nervously.

"Do you want to leave?"

"Well, the ambulance is moving already, so that isn't really possible anymore."

"I mean if you could, would you?"

Luka was quiet for a moment before she responded.

"Only if you left with me."

Gakupo grinned, not even faltering as the needle was inserted into his arm.

"What does this make us now?" Luka asked, her cheeks coloring as she said so.

"I guess I could call you my girlfriend now, but it's a little weird to be in love with my boss."

Luka's face turned even redder at the word "love". It was strange and different for her to be experiencing something of this nature, especially after she had denied the existence of it so many times before. It wasn't anything she had known before, but there was some sort of passion inside of her that made her feel so attached to this man who she had only met just over a month ago. She had felt something toward him, but it had been a dormant feeling until he had kissed her outside of the alley where he could have died. It was as if there had been a flammable substance floating inside of her that had been ignited with his soft, chapped lips pressing against hers. She realized that she did love him back, no matter how little sense it made.

"So you're in love with me then?" she gave a small smile.

"You could say that."

"Why don't you?"

"Okay." He sat up, leaned over and stared up at her, as if expecting something. Luka smiled embarrassedly before bending over and planting her lips on his for the second time. The kiss was brief, but pleasant. Both found themselves to be disappointed when a medic broke them up and scolded them for making her job more difficult than it already was.

Gakupo sighed and lied back on the uncomfortable cot, pleased with himself. He turned to look at Luka, who looked as if she was unsure what to do. He grinned at her, hoping he could channel some of his ecstasy into her. She gave him a small smile in return along with a squeeze of his hand. He laughed and stared at the metal ceiling.

"We're inside an ambulance, my whole body hurts like hell, I just got the crap kicked out of me, I saved the life of a girl I hate, and I just met a boy I've been wishing I would never see again for a long time. But honestly, none of this matters. I just kissed the girl I've been completely in love with for the last month."

"Only a month" Luke repeated to remind him. "I wouldn't say 'completely in love with'"

"I would." Gakupo said with a laugh.

"We're here." One of the medics said.

Luka looked up and realized that she was right. The ambulance had stopped moving and two of the medics were now opening the doors. One of them started to wheel his bed out of the ambulance, but he held out a hand to stop her and climbed out of the bed.

"I'm sorry, but I trust Luka more than I trust you, so I'd rather she took me in there, thank you."

"I'm sorry, but we have to take you in on this cot, sir. The pain killers we gave you will make it almost impossible to walk." The medic said, sounding nervous.

"Have Luka wheel it in then." He said, waving dismissively at the nurse. "No offense, but I'm not one to trust people right when I meet them."

"I'm sorry about him." Luka said to the medic. "He has some issues. But if you'll just let me take him in, we can save a lot of time."

The medic nodded and stepped aside to let Luka take control of the wheeled bed. She kept glancing nervously at Gakupo, as if she was afraid he'd do something to her.

Luka wheeled him down the ramp and out of the ambulance. She followed a different medic into the hospital and through a series of sterile looking white hallways into a small room in the ER. When she had him parked in the room, she started to pull away and was started by his grip suddenly tightening on her hand.

"Don't leave." His voice sounded strained and filled with pain. The effects of the painkillers were obviously fading and the reality of the pain was setting in on Gakupo. By ignoring the medics' orders, he had worsened his injuries and pain.

"I'm just going to grab that chair." Luka pointed toward a small folding chair in the corner of the room. "I'll be right back."

Gakupo nodded and let go if her hand, allowing her to grab the chair and drag it to the bedside. She sat down next to him, taking his strong and calloused hand in her smooth, dainty one. He held onto her hand firmly as they waited for the doctors together.

"Talk to me." She said. "It'll take your mind off the pain."

"Alright, what do you want to talk about?"

"How long have you…felt like this?"

Gakupo laughed, but there was an edge of pain to it.

"Since the day we started working together. I even thought about kissing you that time I made you sing in the park."

Luka laughed as she felt a bit of heat bloom in her cheeks.

"Why me?"

"Are you kidding? You're beautiful, brilliant, hilarious, you listen to me when I'm talking, you're unique, et cetera."

"Unique?"

"You aren't like any girl I've ever met before. There's something that's just so different about you. Well, that and you're the only girl who's ever been in love with me before."

"Have you ever felt like you were in love with another girl before?"

"Once," he sighed. "I was completely in love with her at the time, but it turned out she was only pity-dating me. She's beautiful, witty, clever, charming…"

"What's her name?"

"Galaco, she was the girl who was working with me in the music store. She had all those colors in her hair."

"I remember." Luka said, staring into his small blue eyes. She knew she was in love with him, but she found it hard to think that he had been in love with another woman before her.

But her concern outweighed her disappointment, so she continued the conversation to remove the edge of pain in his eyes and voice.

…

Miku woke up in a daze. Everything was blurry and brightly lit, making her squint in pain. Her neck was horrifically sore and her head ached more than anything.

"What's going on?" she asked, realizing how dry her throat was when her voice came out in a croak. "Where's Kaito?"

"Miku? Miku honey are you okay?" it was her mother's voice. Miku forced her eyes open to her both of her parents bending over her. She propped herself up and looked around, realizing she was in a hospital room. "Who's Kaito?" her mother pulled the attention of her daughter back to her.

"I'm fine, mom." Miku said, rubbing her eyes. "When did I get here?"

"Someone saw you in danger and called the authorities." Her father explained. "Someone hurt you really bad around your neck, who was it?"

"I…I don't know." She said, hanging her head. "I can't remember his name."

"What happened, exactly?" her father inquired, his face a mixture of concern for Miku and anger toward whoever had hurt his princess.

"I…I was with Mikuo. We were going somewhere…..and a bunch of guys jumped us. They started saying a bunch of crazy things about Mikuo that I don't remember, then they said they were going to take me away or something. I tried to get away and scream for help, but one of them grabbed my neck and squeezed it really hard. It knocked me out, and that's all I know."

"What did the people look like?" her mother asked. "Do you think you can tell the police lady when she comes in here?"

"Yeah, probably." Miku sat up in the hospital bed, looking at her parents. "What happened to Mikuo?"

"He's in a room down the hall." Her father said, unable to hide his smile of pride at the boy he was paying to spy on his daughter. Sometimes Miku felt as if he loved him more than her.

Miku felt something deflate inside of her. She had been hoping that something, terrible or not, had happened to Mikuo to free her of his wrath and abuse.

"How badly is he hurt?" she melted false concern into her voice, turning back into the actress she had been since she met him.

"We aren't sure yet, but it looked like he had a few broken bones at least."

"Speaking of which, how is your…."

"No different." Miku's voice froze into a tone of bland indifference at the thought of what her future held for her.

"Miku, you can't keep avoiding the topic. You need to face this at some point. You can't just run scared from it all the time."

"So you just want me to lay around depressed all the time, wasting what time I have? You want me to focus all of my energy toward this problem, and let it take over my life?" her voice froze into daggers of ice, practically causing the temperature of the room to drop.

"That's no what we're saying at all." Her mother assured her. "You just need to accept that this is part of your life, but still be happy. That way, you won't be comepletely destroyed when it happens."

"You have no idea what I'm going through!" Miku tried to shout, but her icy tone was subdued by her hoarse voice.

"Don't say that!" her mother snapped. "Do you think that this is only affecting you? We are suffering just as much as you are! At least you won't have to deal with it after….."

"Shut up!" her father shouted, smacking his wife's arm. "Are you just trying to make her feel worse?"

Her mother was silent, staring at the white tiled floor of the room.

"I'm sorry, Miku. I…"

"It's fine. Whatever." The ice daggers melted back into still water, with no tone or emotion to it. "It doesn't matter."

…

Lily saw them behind a small shopping mall. Five children huddled together, engaged in what appeared to be intense conversation. She approached them slowly, afraid of scaring them. When a small girl with black pigtails noticed her, she pointed with a tiny, slender finger in her direction. The other four spun around to see this tall, pregnant woman with horribly cut short hair that was ridiculously stained with dried blood.

"Who are you?" a girl who looked older than the others with long pale-blond waves stood and pointed an accusing finger in Lily's direction. Lily then realized that all of the children looked just as filthy and frightening as she did.

"My name is Lily." Lily said. "May I join you?"

"Are you armed?" a boy with filthy golden hair said as he stood next to the long haired girl.

"No." Lily said calmly. She stood patiently as the golden haired boy came and examined her, checking to make sure she hadn't lied. Once he was satisfied, he walked back and reported to the other children.

"Sure, whatever." The older girl said in defeat. Lily smiled and went to sit next to the children. She saw that each of them held a bit of food and was eating it slowly. A girl who looked almost identical to the golden haired boy tossed her a slice of bread, causing Lily to look at her uncertainly. Once the girl had nodded and taken a bite of a small apple that she held, Lily decided that it was okay and bit into the bread, only to find it stale. But she didn't care and ate it in seconds.

"What are your names?" she asked them.

"I'm Mayu." The oldest girl said. "That's Rin, Len, Yuki, and Oliver." She pointed to the golden haired girl, the identical boy, the tiny girl with black pigtails, and a boy with blonde curls and bandages over one eye each in turn as she said their names.

"Mayu claims to be the leader." The girl twin said. "She says it's because she's fifteen and Len and I are only fourteen. Oliver's twelve and Yuki's nine."

"So you and Len are twins?" Yuki inquired.

"Thanks for stating the obvious. Yes we are." Len said, crossing his arms. He then looked at his half spoiled banana and over to Mayu. "I ask you again, Mayu; why are we still dumpster diving after we got all that money from the lady out by the restaurant?"

"That was a lady?" Yuki's voice was high and quiet, as if she was afraid to speak too loudly. "Where was her hair?"

"I think she tucked it up into her hat." Oliver said, falling back onto his backside and placing his hands behind his head as he looked up at the blue sky above them. "I can't imagine why, though."

"Back to the previous topic" Mayu said, her tone slightly agitated. "We need to save the money so that we can spend it on something important."

"But we can't even get some decent food?" Rin asked, obviously agreeing with her brother. "What are we going to even use it for? We're too young to buy a house or anything."

"We can never be sure." Mayu said with a sigh. "What if one of us got hurt? We would need to do something about it, and that would cost money."

"Whatever." Len said, dropping the subject. Lily curled up into a ball with a sigh, feeling slightly upset that she was sitting in an alley with some homeless children instead of out with Kiyoteru.

She shook her head, reprimanding herself. Why did she want to go back to Kiyoteru's apartment so badly? It was most likely due to her selfishness and want for the finer things that he had. She dug her nails into her legs, which she was gripping closely to herself, as a way of knocking some sense into herself.

"Why are you so mad?" Lily looked over to see Yuki's large brown eyes watching her with intense observance. "Don't tell me you aren't, because I can tell."

"Yuki's good at reading people." Oliver explained. "There's no way you're getting out of this now."

Lily sighed, knowing she was defeated, and told them her story. She left out the part about her prostitution and instead said she had gone to jail for stealing from someone, but the rest remained accurate. She started from when her father had kicked her out of the house and went all the way to when she had run away from Kiyoteru. When she was done, she expected questions and confused reactions that would be expected from a child, but they all just sat there, obviously not confused but instead taking time to absorb the information they had just been given.

Finally, Rin broke the silence.

"You're in love with him."

"What!?" Lily was taken aback.

"Why else would you want to go back so badly? If you ran away with his best interests at heart, then it can't be because you're selfish, can it? You want to go back because you want to see him, not because you want what he has. I bet you'd feel the same way even if he was on the same level as you financially."

"How old are you again?"

"Fourteen."

Lily shook her head.

"I'm not in love with Kiyoteru. Even if I was, why would he want me? I'm poor, selfish, pregnant, illiterate, stupid…"

"Oh shut up already!" Mayu said, smacking Lily behind her head. "I hate when people talk like that about themselves. You are in love with him, I can tell. You're just afraid that he doesn't want you back. Now you're conflicted between doing what is best for him because you love him or going back to him because you want him. Considering the way he tried to stop you, he wants you there with him. He wants to be together with you just as much as you do. So stop acting like such a fucking downer!"

Lily looked up at the slim fifteen year old girl in surprise. She looked over the other children to see that none of them had reacted to her outburst or swearing in anyway. She hung her head for a moment before suddenly, and to the surprise of everyone, started to laugh. The laughs were shaky and uneven, and quickly turned into sobs.

"What is it?" Len asked, sounding suspicious. "What's the matter?"

"I…I just realize something." Lily said, shaking. "I need to go."

She staggered to her feet and looked at the kids one last time before turning to run off.

"Thanks for the bread."

And with that she turned to run out of the alley. Old memories had just resurfaced, and she had grabbed the most important one and clutched it close to her heart as she ran.

There was something he had wanted her to remember, and she had been too ignorant and stupid to realize it.

Kiyoteru had been _that _man. He had wanted her to know, but hadn't told her for some reason. But in that moment, she didn't care why. She only wanted to get out of that alley and let him find her.

She wanted to return to the man who she had fallen in love with twice.

…

That man was searching for her on the opposite side of town. He was slowly going insane due to his obsession with her.

He had fallen for her not even a year ago, and he had been almost positive she had felt the same. He needed to see her, whether it meant just glimpsing her from across a street or dragging her back to his home and keeping her there forever.

He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to hold her and make sure she wasn't hurt in any way. He wanted to take her home and keep her safe and sound forever. He wanted her to be his and his only, not just something he could buy and use for a short amount of time as she had been before. He wanted to feel her like she was something real and solid in front of him, not just a fantasy that kept escaping from him. He wanted to have her and only her, not any other woman. He more than just wanted her; he needed her like he needed air. If he ever discovered that something had happened to her that would take her away from him forever, he would feel as if he his mind would fall into pieces as he slowly faded into a rugged piece of insanity. He promised himself that if that ever happened; he would kill himself just in case she came back somehow and saw him in that state.

He was searching insanely. He knew that once he found her, he would never let her out of his sight again. He would take her and hold onto her until he died. There would be no time limit on how long they could be together, he could always count on her being there, never running away or being taken away like his mother had taken his toys as punishment for misbehaving in his childhood.

He chastised himself for comparing Lily to a toy. She wasn't a plaything for him to abuse, she was her own person and could do what she wanted. But he knew that she loved him back, so it wasn't like she would ever leave him, right?

Right?

She had told him she loved him back when she had been a prostitute and he was a selfish, filthy customer. They had been in love, but neither had been able to do anything about it.

But did she still love him? Even if she didn't remember him by now, she still had to have realized that there was either some connection between them or that she was in love with him.

But that was just it. She hadn't fallen in love with the refined, rich man who gave her whatever she needed. She had fallen for the masked, hooded man who had shown only her his true face out of his undying love for her. He had gone to the prostitution organization in a mask and hood to hide his identity in order to protect his family's honor along with his own. He had known he was committing a terrible crime, but as long as he had gotten to see her beautiful face and small smile she had shown only to him when he had come to her.

She hadn't known his name, but they had been in love just the same. He had been her most common customer, and was the most likely father of her child. He hadn't been coming to her for sex, but instead just to have some excuse to see her and touch her and kiss her and do things that would have made his family disown him and shun him for an eternity. She had been his sanctuary during his late college days, with her smile and kind voice and soft skin. He had seen her as perfection and perfection only. There had been no other reason to go to the dark and disgusting place other than to see her and love her and just be with her.

The first time he had gone there had been with his friends. He had been convinced to go along through peer pressure, but they had all gone in masks and hoods. That had been the first time he had seen her, and he had fallen for her the second he had caught sight of her. He had returned every chance he got just to see her, and had made her fall for him from there. He had stopped once the police had found out and the place had been shut down.

He had never forgotten about Lily, but it hadn't driven him insane. Now that she had been so close within his reach, but had been tugged away as soon as he had begun to hope he could be with her again. It was like a treat on a string being used to taunt and tantalize a mindless dog. But Kiyoteru didn't want to be the dog that just sat patiently, waiting for the treat to be dropped to him when it never would. He was going to take the path of the clever cat and jump for the treat until he grabbed it.

He had been running through the streets and alleys, mindlessly wailing her name. He attracted the attention of many people, who stared at him as if he was some sort of insane freak.

_I need her._ That was all that ran through him mind as he wandered through the streets with no idea where she could be. The city was huge, and she could have been hiding from him anywhere. He hungered for her and for her pretty golden hair and her shimmering blue eyes and her smooth pale skin. She was his drive and purpose, and he didn't care about anything except finding her and taking her back home where she could be his forever.

She would belong to him…he just had to find her first.

* * *

**Who's Ready to Answer Questions?**

**Look at the title. Which word do you think applies to which character?**

**What do you think is going on with Miku and her family? I know I ask that a lot, but you are given new information about it every few chapters that might change your answer.**

**How did I do on writing Kiyoteru's part? Does it sound repetitive? Any critiques?**

**Where will Gakupo and Luka's relationship go from here?**

**What do you think about Kiyoteru after seeing his past in a clear light?**

**What will Lily do from her current position?**

**How will Kaito manage without getting medical attention for his injuries?**

**How would you describe the relationship Kaito and Gakupo have with each other?**

**If you could give any Vocaloid a hug, who would it be? (Mine would be Gakupo or Luka)**

**Where will Kaito go now? Will he return to the cafe?**

**Are there any problems or predicaments you can predict in the story? (I have many planned out Mwahahaha)**

**How would you describe me as a writer? (Personally I would call myself a sadist but...)**

**What will happen next?**


	11. Chapter 10: The Madness of Kiyoteru

Chapter Ten: The Madness of Hiyama Kiyoteru, a Diseased Princess, and Other Stories

The sobbing was heavy and loud, a sound that Luka wasn't entirely familiar with. She stood from the chair where she had been sitting in the corner of Gakupo's room and wandered over to the door. None of the doctors bothered to look at her, it being that they were too busy hovering over Gakupo and performing tests Luka didn't know or care about. She slipped out into the hallway to see a man with sad, empty eyes holding a sobbing woman with golden hair sobbing into his chest. They were seated on one of the benches that lined the halls. Luka mentally took notes on them out of habit as she walked over to them. She wasn't one to be so bold, but she felt as if these people shared the same emotions she was currently feeling.

After all, she was in a hospital.

"Excuse me." She said awkwardly, catching the man's drained eyes. He gazed at her for a moment before scowling and looking away.

"What do you want?" he asked her bitterly. Luka noticed the woman's crying began to slow, most likely out of embarrassment.

"I just wanted to ask what was wrong." Luka said, feeling ashamed that she had come to start a conversation with two people who were obviously upset.

"Our daughter…." The woman began, her sobs now ceased as she wiped her eyes.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to." Luka assured the woman, feeling worse about intruding with every moment.

"No, you have done nothing to not deserve an answer." The woman said, choking back a sob. "Our daughter is….."

The woman choked and began to cry again. The man took her back into his arms as he looked back to Luka with a kind of shameful sadness.

"Our daughter has osteosarcoma." He said, and Luka could tell that he was trying not to cry himself. "A bone tumor. It started out as a small tumor, no big deal. But when we tested her a month ago, it had spread to other parts of her body. She is still functional, but it is most likely that she won't live to her seventeenth birthday."

"I'm so sorry." Luka said as she silently chastised herself for feeling so horribly when these people had been suffering something so much worse. They had a sixteen year old daughter who was about to disappear from their lives forever. The only thing worse than your own death was the death of your child, and judging by the fact that there was no others sitting near the couple, they weren't going to be parents anymore either.

"What's her name?" Luka asked softly, afraid she was intruding.

The man looked at the ground for several moments as tears began to drip from his eyes. Luka waited patiently, pitying him and studying him at the same time. When he finally wiped the tears from his eyes and looked back to Luka, he looked as if he might fall apart. He might have done it, had it not been for his wife who he was supporting.

Then he said her name, his voice a barely audible whisper. Luka configured that he was afraid of choking on his voice the way his wife had. His shaking was almost visible. It was a beautiful name, one that hung in the air like a paper snowflake made by a young child, constantly there to be admired until the end of the season came and it was discarded, forgotten until it was made anew.

"Miku."

…

Hours later, the cancer infected girl climbed out of her cot and stretched her stiff muscles, feeling the pains she always did when she did so. She hadn't been hurt too badly in the fight, but had been due for treatment anyway. She walked out of the room she had been given several stories up and wandered down the hall until she found the number she was looking for. Opening the heavy metal door, she slipped inside and shut it behind her before turning to look at him.

"Hey." He said with a light toss of his head. "What's up?"

"Are you alright?" she asked, knowing that concern was exactly what he wanted from her.

"Fine, I think. They took some x-rays and found that some of my bones were broken, but it could be worse." She was pretty sure he noticed her flinch at his comment but pretended not to notice.

"Where?" she asked, walking over to his bedside where he sat with a small book in his hands.

"What's with all the questions?" he snapped bitterly, stunning Miku. "I didn't ask you hover over me and act all concerned."

"I'm sorry." She said, bowing her head. With a small upward glance she saw the familiar smug grin on his face that she had seen whenever he gained further dominance over her, like when he hit her or yelled at her.

"Good." He lifted the one arm that wasn't holding his book and reached behind her head, running a hand through her untied hair. Miku didn't normally let her hair down, but she wasn't able to do much with it while she was in the hospital. He stroked her hair for a moment before he yanked her head forward and kissed her without warning. She forced herself not to wince from the impact and attempted to kiss him back with the same force, it being that she knew that it was what he wanted from her.

Suddenly, he pushed her away. Miku fell back, wondering what she had done wrong. She stared at him, unsure and afraid. His face was a strangely contorted mess of venomous agony, but he looked as if he was trying to prevent her from seeing it.

"Are you alright?" she faked a minor alarm into her tone. "Did I…."

"I'm fine." He snapped, his pain morphing into what looked like a saddened anger. "That was nothing, so just drop it."

Miku nodded, hoping to avoid becoming a target of Mikuo's unpredictable violence. She watched him as he sighed and set the book on the table beside him. He sat up, his facial features fading to a neutral expression. He stared at Miku for several moments before he suddenly reached out and grabbed her around her waist. She cried out for a second before he pulled her onto the hospital cot next to him and held her there in an embrace. Miku wasn't sure how to respond to something of this nature. Mikuo had never actually _hugged _her before, unless you counted stripping off her clothes and feeling her curves just for his own pleasure.

But this was different. He had his lightly muscles arms wrapped around her body as he buried his face in her shoulder. She could feel him shaking with the silent sobs that spoke louder than any words or sounds from him ever would.

"Mikuo?"

He didn't respond.

"Are you alright?"

He still said nothing, ignoring Miku's question. Instead he pulled his arms back suddenly, as if in disgust, and sent his foot into her stomach, knocking her onto the hard white tile floor.

"I'm back." He said, sitting up. "Get up."

Miku obeyed, standing and letting her head droop, a curtain of hair falling over her face. She had no idea what had just come over him, but whatever it had been, he was back to normal. He reached out and grabbed her hospital gown, jerking her close to him and striking her across her cheek with a stingingly painful force.

"Are we done now?" he asked her, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him. She nodded as well as she could with him holding her chin and he smiled, letting go of her. He motioned for her to sit on the side of the bed, which she did very slowly, still in pain from her impact with the floor.

What had that moment been? Was there something to Mikuo she didn't know about?

Well whatever it had been, she was just wishing it could have lasted longer.

…

A flash of yellow and shout of his name was all he recognized before he was knocked to the ground. He looked up to see a woman with short, filthy blonde hair wrapping her arms around his waist as she grinned up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks.

For a moment, Kiyoteru was stunned. Then he recognized the glimmering blue eyes and the beautiful smile. He grabbed her and embraced her with more force than necessary, but she obviously didn't care.

As they struggled to their feet, still holding onto one another, he leaned and placed his lips next to her ear, not caring that his glasses had fallen crooked.

"Do you remember now?"

Lily's smile broadened as she nodded. He had never seen her so happy before, and he found it rather strange. But what was there to care about as long as she was happy.

_And she came back. She came back to me because she wanted to. She really is mine._

He smiled at her and broke the hug. She wiped the tears away from her eyes with a lovely laugh that made his smile broaden. Her filthiness and awkwardly cut hair didn't alter her beauty, but almost enhanced it. Kiyoteru had met her when she was always in such a state, and the way she looked at that moment was much more magnificent to him than she had looked when she was clean and dressed.

He took her by the hand and began to walk at a swift, brisk pace, as if he was afraid of her running off again. She had to jog lightly to keep up with him, but didn't really mind his speed.

They made their way back into the building and up to Kiyoteru's apartment. Once inside, he locked the door and wrapped his arms around her again, as if afraid of her trying to go somewhere other than toward him. She smiled and remained in his arms for a short while before pushing him away.

"I'm really sorry." She said, walking over to the couch and sitting down, her face in her hands.

He came and sat next to her, wrapping his arm over her shoulders.

"For what?" he asked.

"Are you kidding?" she looked at him strangely. "I'm too ignorant to recognize you for a month, then I try to run away several times because I don't realize why you want to help me so badly, then I run you down in the street like a fucking steam roller. How aren't you mad at me? You should hate me for god's sake!"

He silenced her with a swift and forceful kiss, wanting to silence her self-bullying. She pushed him away, disappointing him. He took a deep breath and took one of her hands in his free one.

"I will never hate you, Lily. I couldn't even if I wanted to. I'm completely in love with you, and I have been since the day I met you. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in the entire twenty two years I have been living on this planet. I thought about you every day after you were arrested, so much that I couldn't bear to see you on the news. It made me sick to see you in a place I couldn't get to, and I knew that if I had continued watching, I may have destroyed things like the pathetic child I am and have always been. I realize that I need you, Lily. I need to see you and breathe your scent and hold you in my arms. As for your accusation of my being angry, I wasn't mad when you left, but rather I was beyond despair." He lifted her hand and placed it over his own chest. "Please never leave me again, Lily."

He had no idea what her reaction would be. He wasn't sure what to expect from the woman he had thought he had known until she rejected his kiss. He wasn't sure of anything anymore, truth be told.

But Lily shocked him by doing the last thing he expected. She stood from the couch, turned her back to him, and began to sob as she made a beeline for the bathroom, where she locked herself inside.

Kiyoteru sat where he was, dumbstruck. What he done? What had he said that had caused her such pain? He was still for several moments before he jumped to his feet, grabbed a nearby vase, and smashed it against the ground with a loud shout. Shards of blue and white ceramics flew everywhere as water spread over the wooden floor and the flowers became helpless and exposed. He grunted in anger as he kicked a larger shard across the room before fall back onto the couch, his head buried in his hands.

What had he done?

…

She slumped her back against the door, listening as he shouted and smashed something heavy. She covered her mouth and choked back a sob.

Coming back had been a mistake, she was seeing that now. He had the look in his eyes, the one she had seen in the eyes of every man who she had ever seen, except her father and Kiyoteru. They had all looked at her the same way, like she was a piece of food or something. But he had shown her eyes filled with compassion and care, not lust or hunger. But just a moment before, his deep brown eyes had gone from the eyes of the man she had fallen in love with more than once, to the eyes of every other horrible man who saw women as nothing more than something built to give pleasure.

She had wanted to kiss him, but the fear of what might happen if she started something with him was scarping away the affection and desire she had for him growing within her own chest. She had loved him, but this wasn't him; it just couldn't be. He had been perfect to her just months ago, and there had been very little change in his eyes over that time.

So how had they transformed so fast in just a night?

She hadn't seen his eyes close enough until he had kissed her, which was when her confusion had begun. Who was this man? Where was the one who had captured her heart?

She had to leave, but he couldn't see her the way she was. So she stood and wiped away the tears as best she could before timidly opening the door and stepping out of the bathroom. He heard the sound and looked up at her from where he sat on the couch. He stood, staring her sown from the opposite side of the room.

"Kiyoteru," she began. "I think I should leave."

He didn't say a word, but instead began to walk toward her with an unnerving aura about him.

"It's just that," she tried to continue, hoping it would calm her down. "I think we might be confused about….

His warm, soft hands closed around hers. She looked up at him, nervous about how fast he had crossed the room. He didn't look at her, but kept his face in shadow as he focused his eyes on the floor.

"Lily," he murmured.

"It's not that I don't like you anymore," she continued, but her panic was visible now. "It's just that we don't really seem to be….."

"Lily," he repeated, tightening his grip on her hands. "I thought you loved me."

"Kiyoteru," the panic was nearly tangible as his hands crushed hers inside them. "Kiyoteru, you're hurting me!"

"You said you loved me." His voice was monotone, practically robotic as he stared emotionlessly at the ground. But his hands seemed to be trying to destroy hers, as if all of his anger was being translated there. "But now you don't?"

Lily winced, clenching her teeth to keep from screaming. Her breaths became harsh and staggered from the pain he was forcing into her hands.

"Is that true, Lily? Do you not love me anymore?"

She couldn't take it anymore. She opened her jaw and wailed in pain, her hands feeling crushed and bloodless.

The scream was more of a shriek, because it was almost instantly silenced when he released one of her hands and punched her in the stomach, cutting off the sound she had been emitting.

Lily crumpled to her knees, wrapping her now free arm around her four month old baby. The wind had been knocked out of her, but that was nothing compared to the shock she now felt. Had he just punched her child? _His own baby? _

She stifled a sob as he roughly yanked her to her feet. He practically dragged her into the bedroom, where he shut the door behind her and locked it from the outside. She spun around the second she had been flung inside and began to bang on the door.

"Let me out!" she shouted. "I can't believe you!"

"Shut up." His tone hadn't changed. "I'll come in there when I can, okay? But if you keep screaming, I will have to hurt you again."

Lily fell silent with that, ceasing her banging. She turned and walked away from the door before hearing his final words to her for the time being.

"I love you."

She didn't respond, but only fell to the ground in defeat, too exhausted to even cry.

…

"How's it going?"

Gakupo almost laughed as he sat up in the small white bed in the hospital room he had been assigned.

"Oh just fabulous. My entire body feels like absolute crap, they won't let me out of this goddamn room, and I haven't seen you in hours. Speaking of that, where _have_ you been?"

"Getting you this." Luka pulled a takeout container of food out of her bag and handed it to him. "The food here can't be all that amazing, so here."

He popped the lid off and smelled the wonderful aroma of fried seafood and several kinds of dipping sauces. He immediately dug in, giving Luka time to grab a folding chair from the side of the room and place it next to the bed. As he ate, she pulled out her small notepad and began writing every little thought or feeling she'd had or noticed that day but hadn't been able to write.

As she became engrossed in her notes again, she realized that she had forgotten just how soothing it was to her. She always became locked inside her own little dark room where she could write to her heart's content without being disturbed by other human beings. No one ever bothered her inside her little room, and she had always liked it to stay that way.

Kamui Gakupo had been the first person to ever dare to break into the dark little room. His appearance in her life had caused the thick concrete walls of the little room to slowly crumble away as he beat them away. He had done so much to her to make her more open to the world; singing in the park, flinging food at her in the restaurant, even just wrapping his arm around her outside of the tattoo parlor. He hadn't just stripped away the walls of the room, but he had taken her hand and led her outside of it and into the world.

She looked over at the inside of his right arm, where he had gotten the tattoo. At first glance, it didn't seem to be much more than an intricate pattern of swirling lines and strange shapes. But upon closer examination, Luka realized, you could tell it spelled out a short sentence.

_ I've already been to Hell._

Luka wondered why he had gotten it, but she wasn't sure if he would want her asking. She felt as if she owed him her consideration after he had been so kind to her.

When she realized he was looking at her, she quickly looked back at the notepad and continued to write. She heard his deep laugh as he realized what had just happened. He reached over and cupped his hand under her chin, moving her head to look up at him. He leaned over and kissed her, touching her small pink lips to his. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck as he moved his hand from her chin to wrap that arm around her back.

There was a creak of the door opening, but they ignored it. Gakupo tightened his hold around her, making it clear that there wasn't anything that was about to make him let go of her.

"Hey!" a woman's voice said from behind. "You're supposed to be resting!"

Gakupo broke the embrace, repositioning himself so that his back was to the wall at the head of his bed, his arm still around Luka, who hadn't moved from the chair.

"I will do whatever I want to, lady." He said to the woman, who Luka could now see was a nurse.

"You are in no position to talk like that, Mr. Kamui." The nurse said, crossing her arms. "While in this hospital you are…."

"I don't need to hear your bullshit." Gakupo said. "Kissing a girl isn't going to hurt me."

"You still should…."

"Quit while you're behind, would you….?"

"Gakupo," Luka said, setting a dainty hand on his arm. "Please stop." She turned to the nurse. "I'm really sorry. He's been through a lot and…"

"You don't need to apologize." The nurse interrupted. "You seem like a very nice woman."

"Thank you." Luka smiled at the nurse.

When the nurse had left, Luka turned back to Gakupo.

"You didn't have to be so nice to her, you know." He said, pulling her onto the side of his bed. "Nurses are stupid."

"You need to be nice to people if you want me to keep you in here." She moved around, trying to find a comfortable position where she could sit next to him, but the bed was ridiculously uncomfortable.

"I don't want you to keep me in here, you're practically forcing me to be here!" he argued. "I don't need a bunch of psycho doctors hovering over me. I'm a little bruised, so what?"

"You received some serious internal damage from that fight, and I'm not going to ask how." She sighed and looked over his body. He wasn't wearing a shirt, which allowed her to see the dark blotches of purple and black that colored his abdomen. Someone had done something terrible to him, and she had no idea who or what.

"What was with those guys, anyway?" Luka asked, turning back to his face.

"They attacked some girl and her boyfriend, and they got a friend of mine when he tried to help the girl. Why?"

"I can tell there's more than that." She said, staring into his eyes. "You act all weird whenever I say something about them. Did you know them?"

Gakupo released a deep, sorrowful sigh before gently kissing her forehead. He then leaned back and stared at the ceiling.

"A few years ago, I was homeless. I had nowhere to go, no one to help me. I wandered all over the city trying to find food or work or somewhere to stay. I didn't have any friends who I could go to, and my family had all either died or disowned me. I wasn't much more than some guy who would get away with your money if you walked past him in the street.

"I joined a small gang of thugs and killers. It was what I had to do to survive. I did some things that I'm not proud of, but that doesn't really matter."

He looked at Luka, as if he was wondering if he should continue. She stared back, awaiting the rest of the story. He sighed again before continuing.

"I'll give you the short version, the kid leading the guys who attacked was the son of the leader of that gang I used to be in. The kid and his buddies had a grudge against me for ditching them when given the chance."

"Why did you leave them?" Luka asked, her gaze unmoving from his face.

"I was out with a few guys looking for some guy who had killed one of the gang members. We found Meiko instead and almost killed her before I ended up shooting both of them. She somehow wasn't scared off but instead asked me why I had killed the guys I was with. I told her it was because I didn't want to see someone like her lying lifeless in a pool of her own blood."

"Someone like her?"

"I don't know how to explain it." Gakupo said, his lies as visible as his long purple hair. "But she gave me an offer for help and I took it. End of story,"

"Was shooting them really the answer?"

"You didn't know these guys, they would never have gone against anything the leader told us to do, and we had specific instructions to kill her."

"She killed the gang member?"

"No," Gakupo said. "Her dad killed him."

…

Kaito was alone, but it wasn't like that was anything new to him. He had spent most of his life without anyone to help him. Wandering the streets and singing for money was all he really knew how to do. He had basic literacy skills, but that wasn't good enough to get him a job. He lived on the streets of a large city; who would take someone like him in?

Images of Miku continued to pop into his mind. All he found himself able to think about was her, and it made him feel even worse than he already had. Not only was she only a child, but she _had a boyfriend too. _Kaito sickened himself enough to attempt suicide again, but he knew there would be no point in it if Meiko just found him again.

So he limped on, making his way through the dark and unforgiving streets in the middle of the night. He had to put as much distance between himself and the café as possible if he wanted to succeed in his "mission."

He was about a fourth of the way across town when a car pulled up next to where he was walking and the window rolled down. Inside was an elderly woman with very large ears.

"Are you alright, mister?" her voice was crinkly and hoarse, like the way you would expect an old woman to sound.

"I'm fine, thank you." He lied, hoping the woman would go away.

"Do you need a ride somewhere?" she asked.

Kaito laughed bitterly at the woman's ignorance.

"You must be new around here." He said, tilting his head forward slightly so that his blue locks fell into his eyes. "No, I don't need a ride, but I have some advice for you. Don't go helping strangers on the street here, okay? There are too many dangerous people out here."

The woman nodded, looking slightly baffled as she rolled the window back up and began to pull away. Kaito continued his limping journey through the cold night, hoping to get far enough away by morning. Meiko and her father would most likely be asleep by that time, but he wasn't about to take any chances from where he currently stood.

He was bound for a small rich neighborhood, where he knew Meiko would never go. He didn't want her to see him when he was dead or even know about it. He would kill himself just outside of the neighborhood, which was separated from the city by a large iron gate. Someone would find his body and toss it somewhere where it could rot without disturbing everyone else's peace. Meiko would never know, but if she didn't see him again, she would probably assume what had happened.

But he needed to do this to punish himself for what had happened.

_I'll be with you soon, Luka._

If only he knew the truth.

* * *

**I took forever to write this for two reasons: homework and tumblr. :P**

**Whatever! Time for the questions that no one will answer!**

**Joke in the title again! Does it suck?**

**Kiyoteru is officially insane, what will Lily do about it?**

**Who has more of an affect on Kaito's suicide wish, Luka or Miku?**

**What does Gakupo's tattoo mean?**

**What's going on with Mikuo's random hug?**

**Miku has cancer! Congratulations to all of you who already figured that out. How do you feel about it?**

**Why did Mr. Sakine kill a gang member all those years ago?**

**What the hell went on that makes Kaito hate himself so much?**

**Is this the worst chapter ever? Nothing really happened.**

**Am I letting you guys down in any way? You're giving less and less reviews with every chapter.**

**Is there anything you want me to put in the story?**

**Do these questions suck as much as I think they do? Are they even worth answering?**

**You can just answer that last one if you want, I'll stop wasting my time with these questions if you don't want them.**


	12. Chapter 11: Insanity Comes From Inside

Chapter Eleven: Insanity Destroys you From the Inside; the Boyfriend and A Heartbeat's Clockwork

_Thud._

It was a dull, unimportant sound, but Lily heard it all the same. There wasn't much more for her to do other than listen to all the small sounds she heard these days, and this was one of them. It sounded like something heavy falling onto a carpeted surface in a faraway apartment, something that no normal person listened for. But Lily had left her sanity behind when she had been locked away in the bedroom in Kiyoteru's apartment.

There was no clock, nothing to pass the time except claw at her own face in hope that it would tear her soul away so she wouldn't have to deal with her emotions. It was a hopeless effort, but she had nothing left other than the pain of every passing day; what did the simple pain of her jagged nails compare to the warring emotions inside of her?

He had locked her in that room what had seemed like a million years ago, only coming to see her every so often and usually with food with him. He was obsessing over her; she could even hear him mumbling about her as he moved about his apartment. He hadn't raped her or anything; he wasn't looking for sex, she had quickly realized, he literally just wanted _her. _

She crawled her way along the dirty floor to the wooden bedroom door and leaned up against it, listening for anything happening inside the apartment. There weren't any noises beyond the sound of Kiyoteru's unceasing muttering to himself. He was in the apartment, but he remained out of the bedroom for the time being. He came in often, but there was also a large amount of time he spent either out of the apartment or just not in the room.

Most of what he was saying was unintelligible, although she caught a few snippets of words like "…..can't leave me…why am I…..…who broke that…..?" Lily didn't know what was wrong with him, and she didn't understand what he was planning with her any farther than keeping her holed up in a room for him to stare at whenever he wanted to.

That was all he did, stare. He would just come into the room and lock the door before sitting on the floor and just staring at her, as if he were watching a television show. He would just come into the room and give Lily the same blank stare over and over again, never speaking to her or even touching her.

It drove Lily crazy, not understanding what he was doing or why he was doing it. He had flung her into that room and locked her inside, never letting her even do so much as peek through the door. And for what? He wouldn't speak to her, and if she tried speaking to him he wouldn't answer her. He just stared at her with those glazed over brown eyes that she had once seen life and intelligence in.

Suddenly, the door flew open, hitting Lily's head and knocking her over. She rolled away from the door and sat up, rubbing her injury as she looked at Kiyoteru's hulking form. He stood, unmoving, for a moment as he stared at the wall. Then he closed the door behind him and walked over to the corner, sitting in an old wooden chair and turning to look at her. She sighed and sat up, looking around and pretending he wasn't there. She stood and walked over to the bed in the corner, sitting down on it as she grabbed an old magazine from the nightstand and flipping through it.

"Stop that." His voice rang clearly through the air after only a second.

"Stop what?" Lily asked, not looking up.

"Stop pretending to read just to avoid me. I want to see your face."

"I'm not pretending."

"Lily, I know a lot of things. I know that I've pretty much lost my mind, but that doesn't mean that I don't also know that you can't read."

Lily sighed and put the magazine down.

"So you're talking to me now, huh?" she asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the headboard. "I thought I was just some pretty thing for you to stare at all day long."

A momentary look of hurt flashed across his shadowy features as he looked toward the floor.

"Lily, don't say that."

"Why shouldn't I?" anger was seeping its way into her tone. "You fucking locked me in here because I wanted to leave here, and all you do is come into the room and stare at me! You won't even talk to me or try to make me feel like this is a good thing, which I know it isn't! You aren't making the slightest effort to help me feel like I'm not your damn prisoner, and I would appreciate it if you would just…."

The next thing she knew, hand enclosed around hers. Blinded by her anger, she hadn't seen Kiyoteru cross the room and sit on the bed next to her. He had taken her hand, but wasn't crushing it as he had before. Instead it was gentle and kind, a touch that showed some degree of care and love.

"I'm sorry."

But Lily shoved him away. She stood and turned her back to him, walking across the room until she was as far from him as she could get without leaving the room.

"That isn't what I want, Kiyoteru!" she shouted without looking back at him. "I don't want your pity or any of that shit! I want….I want….."

"I'm not letting you leave. I can't do that, even for you."

"That isn't it." She said, spinning around to face him. "I want….I want you to care about me. I do love you, Kiyoteru, and I want to talk to you. I want to see you and hear your voice and be with you, but none of that can happen if you just sit there and stare at me while you hold me in here like a hostage. Why do you have to do all of this? Why can't we just go out and eat in fast food places and watch stupid horror movies like normal people do? Why do you have to keep me in here where my sanity is slowly being drained while I spend most of my time alone in your bedroom? Are you planning to just keep me in here for the rest of my life?"

She stared at him, her empty blue eyes filling with anger and despair as they bored holes into Kiyoteru, who refused to meet her blazing stare. He was silent, his brown eyes resting gently on the bedspread on which he was currently sitting.

"Why won't you answer me? What is there that you're afraid to say to me? You confuse me, Kiyoteru, and I hate being confused. It upsets me, and it makes me want to cry. I hate crying, you know that? It makes me look weak and feminine. I deserve a response from you, and I expect one when I talk to you!"

"You sound like my mother." Kiyoteru muttered, unmoving from his position on the bed.

"Compare me to whoever you want; it doesn't justify what you're doing here!" Lily cried, turning back to the wall. "I've been ditched on the streets by my parents, paid to have sex with strange men…..do you even know what that's like? I was giving myself away to people I had never met before, all for money and shelter that I had no other way of earning. I was a fucking prostitute, Kiyoteru, and I hate myself for it! Everyone I ever loved got up and left me, everyone…..everyone except you!" she was shouting now, a blur of water brimming her vision. "You were the only person who never left me! You came to me every night when I was in that horrible place, and that single hour we spent together was what I was living for during that time! You got me through the worst times of my life, and I was happier than I ever was when I was with you! But now…it's like you're someone else. You aren't that man who came in with a mask and a hood to hide his identity, but let me see who you really were once we were alone. You weren't even that man when I met you in the alley two months ago! And now…it's like I don't even know you anymore."

The words seemed to bounce off the man across the room from her, as if they weren't even reaching his ears. But it wasn't like something was blocking her cries; instead it seemed that he was the one refusing to listen.

Warm wetness spilled over Lily's eyelids and danced down her sallow cheeks. The tiny droplets slipped into her mouth as she opened it to sob, tasting as salty and bitter as they felt.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she sobbed. "Why are you so different? What happened to you that drove you to this…..this madness! You aren't the masked man, you aren't even Hiyama Kiyoteru! You're a…"

"I'm a what, Lily?" he shouted across the room, finally speaking to her. "What am I? You don't recognize me because I'm not that man with the mask and the hood? Well too fucking bad, because your stupid prince charming is dead! He doesn't exist anymore! As for Hiyama Kiyoteru, what do you even know about him? You knew that man for one month, and that certainly isn't enough time to learn anything about a person! If you thought that I was always going to be that same man who you met all those months ago, you must be pretty damn delusional!"

"Is this the real Hiyama Kiyoteru, then?" Lily shouted back. "A nutcase who kidnaps homeless woman and traps them in his apartment? I'm not your stupid dog who you just found on the street and decided to take home with you; I'm a person! Are you trying to tell me that the man I fell in love with is nothing more than this? I fucking hate you!"

Kiyoteru was across the room and on top of her in a millisecond. He grabbed her by her wrists and pinned her against the wall. She turned away and closed her eyes in fear, feeling his hot breath against the side of her face.

"Look at me." His voice was a quick snap of an order, like a war general addressing his soldiers. Lily hesitated for a moment before slowly turning to face him, opening her eyes and glaring at him defiantly.

"Let go." She said firmly.

He released one of her hands and slapped her cheek hard enough to jerk her head to one side. Her jaw dropped in shock as she reached to touch where he had just hit her, but his hand intercepted hers and quickly had it pinned back against the wall. She bit her tongue to keep any new tears from spilling over, turning her head to look at the floor.

"Look at me." He repeated.

Lily's head quickly snapped up to look at Kiyoteru, who was at least several inches taller than her. Her eyes were no longer filled with anger and defiance, but instead sadness and fear.

"You don't hate me." He said slowly, enunciating each word carefully. "You couldn't hate me. You just said you love me, which means there is no way you could ever hate me. I don't hate you, and I wouldn't even if you drove a poisoned blade into my chest. Love doesn't work like that."

"You're insane." Lily said quietly.

Kiyoteru raised his hand again, causing Lily to turn her head away in fear. She scrunched her eyes shut, bracing herself for the pain. But it never came. She slowly opened her eyes to see Kiyoteru with his hand in the air, hesitating. With a heavy sigh, similar to that which a man who was about to have a heavy burden dropped on his shoulders might give, he dropped his hand and released his hold on Lily.

"I know." He said, falling into a sitting position on the ground. "I'm completely lost inside my own mind. It's like I wandered into some sort of labyrinth, and I can't find my way out."

"Labyrinth?" Lily asked, being unfamiliar with the word.

"It's another word for maze." He explained, falling onto his back on the carpeted floor. "It doesn't matter; it's just some stupid analogy. It's horrible, like all I can think about is you. I want you with me, so my mind rationalized that keeping you locked up would prevent you from ever leaving me again. It makes sense, in theory, but it's much more complicated than that. It's kind of like a math problem; it makes sense if you generalize everything, but you need to work out and configure every little detail if you don't want to ruin everything."

Lily had no idea what he was talking about, but she simply nodded and walked over to him, sitting on the floor next to him.

"I don't want to leave you, Kiyoteru." She admitted. "But I don't want to be your prisoner either. Why can't we just be like all those couples we see outside? Why can't we love each other like normal people?"

Kiyoteru gave a short and bitter laugh, turning to look at Lily. She tucked her legs into her chest and let her short hair fall into her eyes, staring at the ground.

"We aren't normal people, Lily. The fact that we're having a conversation right now just proves that you're just like me."

"Kiyoteru," Lily said with a grin. "My sanity left me about a week ago. You're late."

…

There was something about him that was just so reassuring as she kissed him. Something about the softness of his hair in her hands and his thin arms, lightly layered with muscle, wrapped around her thin body. His mouth smooth and gentile against hers as he forced himself not to do anything that would hurt her in the slightest. The experience of his loving embrace was just so different from anything she had experienced before, and she wasn't sure how to deal with it. It was the kind of kiss you only saw in movies and read about in books, nothing that she had thought could ever exist for anyone, especially her.

His clothes were old and cheap, making them rough and uncomfortable against her skin. She didn't really mind, but they were annoying the hell out of her. She wanted to get them out of the way, but found herself too shy to do anything about that. She had one hand on his waist and the other behind his head, intertwined with his hair as she pulled his face against hers. The skin on his face was filthy and rough from years of abuse, but she didn't care as long as it was his, and not that of the boy who had been abusing her for far too long.

Kaito was like an angel, sent into her life to provide escape from everything that had been happening to her. The cancer, Mikuo, her parents' pain, these moments she spent with Kaito made her forget about all of those.

It had been sheer luck that he hadn't ruined this before it could begin.

…

_ Miku had been on her way home when she'd seen him. She had nearly crashed her bike trying to stop as she saw the blue haired man holding the long blade over his exposed wrist._

_ "Kaito!" she'd screamed, running toward him, abandoning her bike on the sidewalk. His face when he'd looked up at her had been filled with shock and what had seemed like a flickering bit of relief._

_ "What are you doing here?" he'd demanded once she reached him._

_ "I live here! What the hell are you doing? You can't kill yourself like this!"_

_ Kaito had given her a long, hard stare before he dropped the knife with a sigh and fallen to the ground, his face in his hands._

_ "I can't do this anymore, Miku!" he said, wiping the sweat from his face. "I don't even know why…."_

_ "I don't care what you were thinking, don't fucking try something like that!" she thwacked the back of his head. "You're an idiot, Kaito."_

_ He sighed again before explaining everything to her; his feeling toward her, why he hated himself, what had happened to Luka, and his untreated injuries from the incident in the alley. When he finished, Miku had stared at him for a moment before smacking the back of his head with full force._

_ "What was that for?" Kaito asked, rubbing his head._

_ "You stupid man!" Miku had cried before grabbing Kaito's shoulders and pulling him into an embrace. "You blind, stupid man! Haven't you noticed yet?"_

_ "Don't you have a boyfriend?"_

_ "He's an abusive creep my parents set me up with! I hate him more than I hate death, and I despise death with a passion. I don't want him in my life!"_

_ "Apparently not, but that doesn't change anything."_

_ "Oh shut up." She said, not letting go of him. "I don't give a crap about age, and why should I care about who you used to be?"_

_ "You may not care," he said gently "But your parents will."_

_ Miku released the blue haired man, meeting his gaze with a giddy grin._

_ "Who says they have to know?"_

…

"Miku," he whispered as he gently broke the kiss, still holding her in his arms. "This is wrong."

"Who cares?" she said, laying her head on his chest. "I'm sixteen and you're twenty one, but why should that matter? We shouldn't let something dumb like that get in the way of how we feel."

"You obviously haven't been exposed to enough of the world to know just how bad this will look to other people." He murmured into her ear as he twirled his fingers through her long turquoise tendrils. "There are a lot of people out there who try to do things to naive little girls like you, and this looks a lot like…"

"You're not a pedophile, Kaito." Miku muttered, playing with his old t-shirt. "And what does it matter if no one knows?"

"People are going to find out eventually, Miku." He said in a low voice. "This can't be kept a secret forever."

Miku gave a moment's hesitation before responding, as if she was unsure if she should speak or not.

"I don't have forever, Kaito." She said, hanging her head so he wouldn't see her tears.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"I….I…." she stuttered, choking on a repressed sob. "I have osteosarcoma."

"What is that?" he asked, grabbing onto her chin and forcing her to look at him as panick boiled up in his chest. "Miku! Tell me what that means!"

"It….it means I have cancer in my bones." She whispered; her voice felt as if it wasn't functioning. "It means I'm going to die in a few months."

"My god." He muttered, his voice sounding strained, as if he were in great pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Miku said, breaking their embrace and placing a hand on Kaito's shoulder. He looked at her with a mix of frustration and alarm.

"Sorry? Why are _you _sorry?" he asked, grabbing onto her shoulders. "This isn't your fault. You didn't ask for any of this crap!"

"No, Kaito." Miku said, her voice was nothing more than the hoarse whisper of someone who was forcing themselves not to cry. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. We've been seeing each other like this for about a month now and I…"

"Shush," he said, bringing her back into his arms. "If you go on like that, someone will hear you, and that'll be the end of us."

She fell into his embrace, turning her face into his shirt and letting go of her emotions, allowing them to flow out in the form of quiet sobs. Kaito rubbed her back, feeling the silky material of her shirt between his fingers as he ran his other hand through her loose hair.

"It's alright." His voice was nothing more than a reassuring murmur in her ear as he let the shock fade away. "You're okay, everything's going to be fine."

"No, it's not." She pulled away from him again. "That thing doesn't work on me. I'm not a child, Kaito."

"Yes you are." He said, resting a hand on hers, which was idling on her seat next to her. "Sixteen is still a child, Miku. You still have time to…"

"Time? _Time?_" Miku cried. "Time is exactly what I don't have! They told me I probably won't even live another year, or even six months, and there's nothing they can do about it! I'm _dying _Kaito! I'm dying and I haven't even gotten enough time to even get to know you!"

"Stop that." He ordered, snatching her around her waist and spinning to his feet, pulling her with him. "I don't care about your death, I care about your _life. _Life isn't something to…"

"Says the guy who tried to kill himself twice, and would've succeeded if it hadn't been for me and Meiko!" Miku pointed out.

"I thought we were done with that?" he asked, stepping over to a small music player in the corner of Miku's bedroom and pressing a button he had seen her press a million times before. He took her hands and put them around his own neck as the strangely slow love song started to play. He reached around her waist and started moving to the slow rhythm.

"You're horrible at this." She commented, moving extremely close to him.

"Then you lead." He said with a shrug. "I was not educated in your ways of dancing.

"Oh shut up," she pushed him playfully, throwing them off balance and sending them sprawling onto Miku's bed. She giggled slightly and kissed him for a second before he carefully lifted her off of him.

"And you called me a bad dancer." He said with a laugh, running a hand through his dirty, unkempt hair. "At least I never tackled my partner."

"Because you would've broken me!" Miku pointed out with a light laugh. "My bones aren't exactly in top condition right now."

"I was trying to get your mind off of that." Kaito said, standing again and offering his hand to her. Miku took it, and soon they were dancing again. Neither was very good, but they didn't really care as they stepped and swayed to the beautiful song. When it was over, Kaito gave her a quick peck of a kiss before releasing her and walking over to her window.

"You're not seriously climbing out the window." Miku giggled as she walked over to turn off the music. "That's so cheesy."

"What? Is there some other option? Or do you want me to walk out through the front door and let your parents see me?"

"Don't remind me." Miku sighed and watched as he opened the window and checked to make sure the coast was clear before climbing out the window and down the wall using small outcrops and ledges. She leaned over the edge, making sure no one would see him as he climbed into her backyard. She knew that from there he would sneak out of the neighborhood through the woods and head to the Sakines' café.

"Bye, Kaito" she murmured, watching as he hit the ground running and dashed across her grassy yard. He hopped the wooden fence separating her yard from the woods and vanished into the trees.

…

"This is stupid." Luka muttered, following behind Gakupo as he made his way through the crowded streets.

"You're stupid." Gakupo retorted playfully, reaching back to wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her body close to his. "Why are you so against this?"

"It's a waste of time." She said, not looking at him. "It's time we could spend doing something productive, but instead you're dragging me here. You do realize that this won't assist our lives at all?"

"What's the point of living if you can't do anything that makes you happy?" he pointed out.

Luka closed her eyes, letting her head fall back against his chest as they walked. He was guiding her, taking her to the place she never would have gone had anyone but him been making her do this.

"I'm happy so long as I'm with you." She said, not caring who may have been looking on.

Gakupo bent over and kissed her forehead lightly, as if her skin were the most delicate thing in the world.

"Me too." He said raising his hand to her chin and gently caressing her jawline. She opened her beautiful blue eyes and turned around so that she was walking backward. He gave a small smirk before swiftly pressing his lips to hers. It was a short kiss, unable to last due to the inhospitable streets they were passing through, but it was pleasant all the same. As Gakupo pulled away, he saw a flicker of disappointment flash through Luka's eyes, making him smile with a bit of triumph. "Come on, we need to hurry if we want to make it."

Luka groaned at him, still annoyed at his dumb ideas. He laughed and spun her around so she was facing forward again, leading her on to his planned destination.

"We should be working." Luka reminded him.

"Even you need a day off." He said, "Even you. You have another four months to finish this project, Luka; one day isn't going to throw you off entirely."

"Easy for you to say," Luka replied. "You're not under all the pressure here."

"I'm not? If you don't get this book done, you lose the deal and go back to a cushy life with your family until you can find a new one. If I don't help you get this book done, I lose my job and fall back into debt and bankruptcy as I slowly make my way back to homelessness. Yeah, Luka, I'd say that I am under quite a bit of pressure."

Luka stopped walking for a second, causing Gakupo to stumble over her. He moved so that he was standing next to her instead of behind her, slipping his hand into hers.

"I'm sorry." Luka murmured "I wasn't…"

"Doesn't matter." Those were Gakupo's words, but the sharp dagger that was his tone seemed like it was slicing its way into her throat, choking her as it implied that what she had said _did, _in fact, matter. "Let's just keep going."

Luka remained silent as she continued walking, her fingers intertwined with his. Gakupo glanced over at her several times, wondering if she would look at him. But she kept her gaze firm and frustrated on the ground, filled up with anger not toward him, Gakupo realized, but toward herself. He squeezed her hand to get her attention, hoping to catch her gaze, but she ignored it. He sighed, silently kicking himself for acting the way he had, making her upset. He hated to see her unhappy, and he often found himself finding a way to throw the blame on his own shoulders for every little problem Luka had.

"Luka," he said, pausing his stride. Luka copied him, still staring away.

"What is it?" she asked.

He reached over and cupped his hand under her chin, gently moving her face to look at him. She jerked her head away and turned it back to face the ground.

"You're too predictable." She commented. "You pull the same moves on me every time this happens. You cup your hand under my chin, make me look at you, talk to me in a quiet voice for a few seconds before kissing me, then you hold onto me for a minute or two before we're finally okay again."

"If it's making things okay, why should it matter if I'm repeating myself?" Gakupo asked. "You of all people should understand that an effective method should be reused…"

"But not overused." Luka finished for him, changing the ending of his statement. "And the fact that you've had to do that so many times in only a little over a month just shows how unstable this relationship is."

"Who cares as long as it works out in the end?" he said, tossing his head back and looking up at the cloudy sky. The sun was poking its curious head through one of several little holes through which light was penetrating the thick cloud barrier. The clouds were filled with an overcasting greyness, foreshadowing rain that would soon dampen the city streets and send insignificant humans running for cover from the inevitable forces of nature. "I sure as hell never would, and neither should you. The only reason we're fighting so much is that you don't know how to just let go and relax instead of perfecting every little move you make in this giant-ass fucked up chess game we call life. You overthink everything, overanalyzing it to the point where you think you've outsmarted the opponent, but instead you've been trapped by their smart and rational moves. You don't need to over strategize, Luka." He tucked some escaping hairs from his ponytail behind his ear with his free hand. "Don't ask me why I'm making all these deep metaphors now, just take it for what it is and come have some fun. Enjoy your life before it eventually ends on you, and you know better than anyone that it eventually will."

Luka was silent. She stared at the ground for several seconds longer before joining him in enjoying the view of the overcast sky. They stared for several seconds, it being that they had stepped out of the way of traffic and were on the side of the sidewalk, the side-sidewalk if you please. A few people stared at them, wondering who they were and what they were doing, but always kept walking, never giving a crap about anyone who was sitting outside their own little safe haven of a life. They had little utopian bubbles that they were too scared would be penetrated by speaking or interacting with anyone from a land outside their little sanctuary.

With a sigh, Gakupo pulled himself away from his thoughts and back to the material world on which their bodies stood. He gave Luka's hand another quick squeeze, which must have created some spark of life within Luka, because before he could react, she was clutching him in a tight embrace. She clutched the fabric of his loose grey shirt, pulling her face deeper into it with every new tear that glided its way down her face. The wet, sticky droplets of emotion began to seep through Gakupo's shirt, but he didn't care. He just wrapped his arms around her gently, as if to shield her from the stares of faceless onlookers, because to those two, none of those unknown people had any features or distinctive traits. They were just faceless, soulless avatars floating through their lives without a second thought or care, nothing but their petty problems ever troubling them. Gakupo knew that he and Luka were the same to other people, and in the entirety of everything they were nothing more than stardust to be kicked up whenever the urge hit someone, always to settle back into their meaningless places. But even if that was so, he knew for a fact that they mattered to each other, and that was all that he needed.

_Feeling philosophical today, are we? _The voice squeaked at him from the back of his head, nagging him. _What brought all this on?_

_ Luka. _He thought, replying to the voice that he knew was a part of him. It was strange to have to reassure himself of something he had felt so certain about a second before was strange, but Gakupo didn't care about that any more than he cared about all those faceless onlookers.

A delicate hand reached up from the sobbing form slouched onto his chest and placed itself on his shoulder. He smiled and bent down to kiss her, creating another moment of pleasure to be remembered between the two of them. Pulling away for just a second, Luka spoke without creating any new distance between them.

"You never answered my question."

"Hm?"

"Why did we stop?"

A short laugh escaped Gakupo, a deep sound that resonated from some deep place within his chest.

"We're here," he murmured, giving her another short kiss. "The stupid bar you didn't want to go to."

"I still don't want to." She reminded him. "Even after our pointless and easily resolved argument and your chess metaphors."

"I'm still making you go." He said with a snicker. He planted one final kiss on her cheek before straightening up and making his way into the building, dragging her behind him as she sighed in defeat.

No matter what philosophical crap came into Gakupo's head, he didn't care as long as he was happy. And the one thing that did that was seeing Luka and her gentle, shy happiness radiate through her mostly covered skin.

He didn't know much about love, but he knew that it was the only word in his vocabulary to describe how he felt for dainty little Megurine Luka.

* * *

**So sorry for the late update! I spent my entire weekend working on a science project and a history essay. I feel like I'm letting you guys down by keeping you waiting two extra days then giving you nothing more than some stupid filler chapter. WHAT HAPPENED TO ME? WHEN DID I BECOME THIS DISGRACE?**

**Whatever, on with the questions!**

**Where do you see Kiyoteru and Lily on a scale of one to ten for emotional and mental stability? (one being completely sane and ten being a crazed psychopath who can't leave a padded room without massacring half of Europe)**

**How do you think Kaito feels about having someone else who saved his life?**

**Where the hell did all that weird crap going through Gakupo's head come from? Was there anything it reminded of?**

**A hidden heiress and her poor boyfriend walk into a bar...what's going to happen here?**

**Was the flashback of what happened to Katio enough? Or should I have put it in when it actually happened?**

**What's your favorite anime/manga?**

**Is this turning into a mainstream fanfic or what?**

**Do you fear for this story's well being after reading this shitty chapter that I'm uploading way late?**

**Did you know that you can bite through a human's finger as easily as you can bite through a carrot? (Don't try this at home, please) My friend told me this while we were talking about Evil Food Eater Conchita. I confirmed that it is true.**

**Did anything in this chapter confuse you?**

**How will Kaito and Miku keep up their secret relationship?**

**Are there any characters who you feel haven't been in the story enough and should be in it more?**

**Thanks for reading you guys and don't be afraid to give me some constructive criticism in the reviews! I want to know what I can do to make this as enjoyable for you guys as I can!**

**Why are you being so kind to me in your reviews? I can take your criticism!**

* * *

**FINAL NOTE!**

**I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who read "Can Vocaloids Survive a Zombie Apocalypse?"! We just broke 2,000 view on it, and I only wrote it like a month ago! It makes me really happy to know that my first fic was such a big success with you guys! I remember when I got the first review on that story telling me how amazing it was. I literally started crying I was so happy and relieved to know that I wasn't a horrible writer! **

**I love you all, and if you haven't read the zombie story, I'm really proud of how it turned out and would recommend you read it. Just go to my profile page and look under my stories!**

**XOXOXOXOXOXO (because you're all worth it)**


	13. Chapter 12: Everything's Broken

Chapter Twelve: Broken Glass, Broken Bones, and Broken Hearts

Her hand was dainty and cold, so small it appeared that any of the tiny metacarpals or phalanges inside would snap at the slightest bit of pressure. But he knew this wasn't true; human bones could absorb more force without breaking than cement, although he wasn't sure if that applied to bones in the hand. Anatomy had never been Kiyoteru's specialty, despite his above average grades and extensive tutoring on the subject along with others. It seemed that he had forgotten a lot of the unneeded information while working toward his mathematics masters.

He had taken her hand with uncertainty, as if afraid it would crumble at his touch as easily as a fragile butterfly. Her skin was cold and rough from years of facing the harsh outside world, but what did it matter as long as it was her hand, and no one else's?

She gave him a small smile when he looked at her and closed her fingers around his hand, returning his gesture. He smiled at her and pulled himself up into a sitting position on the carpeted floor, mimicking Lily's position. They leaned up against the wall, sitting side by side as they stared blankly off into space, their fingers intertwined. They sat there in silence for who knows how long, neither speaking the smallest word to the other. But what did they need words for? The only thing they had to share with one another was the love they felt, and both were already aware of the other's affection. Neither knew what else to do other than sit there, staring off at nothing in particular as they gripped each other's hands.

Without a word, Lily moved so that she was on her knees and turned to face Kiyoteru, her hand still in his. He turned to look at her, staring with an alert attentiveness at her tired blue eyes. She smiled at him and released his hand, only to wrap her arms around him in a gentle hug. He was surprised for a moment before he found himself smiling and returning the embrace, careful not to harm her or her child. She buried one of her hands in his soft brown hair, running her fingers through it lovingly. He gave a small laugh and did the same in her equally short hair, which was now clean.

After a short while, Kiyoteru stood and left the room without a word. Lily sat back against the wall and listened to his footsteps as he walked to the front door, the creak of the door slowly opening, and the click and thud as he closed it behind himself. Lily didn't know where he was going, but she didn't really care as long as he came back. He was probably just going to get food or something, Lily thought. She stood and wandered out of the bedroom where she had been sitting. She made her way over to the bathroom and went inside, stepping up to the mirror and giving her reflection a long, hard stare. The woman staring back at her wasn't familiar to her, as if she was staring at a photo of someone else hung over the bathroom sink. This woman had a short mop of blonde hair that had been unevenly and hastily cut near the chin, crystal clear blue eyes filled with what could only be some form of joy, and a clean healthy glow to her complexion. That wasn't what Lily looked like. She had long golden hair that was constantly caked with dirt, empty blue eyes that had been drained of all life, and filthy pale skin that was tight and sallow. The woman in the mirror was the opposite of Lily, especially that look in her eyes. It wasn't the happiness exactly; it was more like the small sparks of insanity flaring inside those small pools of crystalline blue. Lily intensified her stare at the woman, hoping to figure out who she was and why she was inside the mirror where Lily's reflection should have been.

Lily reached out and dragged her fingertips along the mirror, watching as the stranger did the same. They moved with a fluid synchronization, like two puppets having their strings pulled at the same time. She sighed in frustration and reached back to scratch her head.

Her short hair was soft and untangled beneath her fingers. Lily's eyes widened as she began to feel around her head in search of her long, tangled hair. When she had confirmed it wasn't there, she looked back to the mirror in fear, only to see the woman on the other side mimicking her expression. She had guts to make fun of her at a time like this, Lily thought. She felt the bubbling rage building up inside her as the mystery woman continued to mock her pain, insulting her.

"You!" she shouted at the mirror "You did this to me didn't you? You made me look like you! I'm not me anymore! Just go away!"

But the woman didn't go away. She remained right where she was, copying every move Lily made but without the sound. Lily screamed and banged a fist against the layer of glass, sending a spider web of cracks flying from the circle her fist had made. She wailed on as she continued to smash her hand against the mirror, sending shards of it flying everywhere and lodging themselves in her hand. The web of cracks was now only on a thin bit of glass bordering an empty space that had once been a mirror.

Lily stared at the mirror, or at least what was left of it, with a sort of horror. She looked around at the shards of glass lying all over the bathroom, not understanding why. Where was the woman who had been mocking her? She wasn't behind the glass where Lily had seen her, but in her place was a bare wall.

A multitude of stabbing pains jerked Lily back to reality. She lifted her hands up in front of her face, seeing chunks of glass wedged into her flesh. There was blood all over her hands and wrists, running down her forearms now that she was holding her hands up.

Unsure of what to do, Lily crumpled to her knees, curled up on a bed of hard tile and broken glass, and sobbed into her knees. What else was there to do when you couldn't even recognize yourself in a mirror?

…

"You're such an asshole."

Luka gave Gakupo a playful shove, which hardly did anything to him except draw a small laugh out of him.

"What? It wasn't like we were doing anything…specific." Luka grabbed him by his long hair and gave it a series of sharp tugs "Ow! Ow! Kidding Luka! Kidding! It was nothing, okay?"

"If you don't want to look like a complete jerk, don't flirt with other women around your girlfriend." Luka said, giving his long hair another pull, but gentler this time. "Why do you keep your hair so long anyway?"

"It's personal," Gakupo said, taking Luka's hand and leading her back to the small booth they'd been sitting in. "Here, I'll get some drinks."

"You're still an asshole." She reminded him with a small smile. "But a drink sounds nice."

Gakupo gave her a small smile and a swift peck on her cheek before he turned and headed over to the bar. As soon as he wasn't looking, Luka trailed her fingers along the place where his mouth had touched her pale cheek, her smile growing. She hadn't ever felt this way about anyone before, not even her family. There was something different about Gakupo, something she hadn't ever seen in another human being before.

Reaching into her sweatshirt pocket, Luka pulled out her notebook for the millionth time. She didn't care that Gakupo had planned for this to be a day off for her; she had to finish her work. She began jotting down notes on the strange emotional experience she and Gakupo had just felt. She made sure she had recorded every word, thought, and feeling that had been involved in the event before scanning over the information to see what she could decipher from everything that had happened. The problem was, these emotions weren't scientific or anything like what she was familiar with. This wasn't straightforward or simple, which was how Luka had always seen the world, even when other people found things to be complex or impossible. Everything had always been built off of concrete facts, even human emotions and thoughts. But there was something here that Luka still couldn't comprehend, something that got in the way of her figuring out anything else in that had passed between the two of them outside.

Without warning, a lightning fast hand reached over Luka's shoulder and snatched the notepad away.

"Hey!" she cried, spinning around to see Gakupo standing behind her with her mini pad in his hand, which he was waving tauntingly.

"You can have this back _after _I go home." He said, giving her an attractively smug smile. She blushed and threw her hood over her head, casting a shadow on her beanie encased forehead. She stared down at her knees, not looking up until Gakupo placed a plastic glass filled with a mix of bright colors in front of her. She ignored it and instead stared across the table at Gakupo, who had just sat down and was sipping from his own drink. He noticed her stare and raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you?"

"Give me my notes." Luka said, her eyes serious and her voice hard.

Gakupo laughed as he said "You don't seem to have a working sense of hearing, do you?"

"You're still an asshole."

"I try." Gakupo reached across the table and took one of her slim hands in his large one. "Hey, can't you just try to have fun for one day? You work all the time, so why don't you just take one little break with me? One date, then we're done."

"I work all the time because I got a job doing what I love and I'm good at." Luka said firmly. Gakupo smiled, stood, and walked over to her side of the booth and sat next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in really close to his body. Luka felt her face turn red as she saw more people looking at them. "Gakupo….Gakupo stop…." She muttered sharply to him, but he only smiled and brought his lips close to her ear, as if to tell her a secret.

"Only when you agree to stop being so uptight and have some fun." He murmured, kissing her jawline softly. She made a small noise of frustration and tried to break free of his grasp, but was unsuccessful in escaping the muscled hug Gakupo had her imprisoned in.

"Let go!" Luka whined in a voice too quiet to draw attention, trying to kick him under the table to no avail. He gave another soft laugh before lifting her up as if she weighed nothing and placing her on his lap. A few people were watching, but most just took them for another couple of young adults who'd had a bit too much to drink. "What the hell Gakupo? What are you accomplishing here?"

"I'm embarrassing you." He said with a nasty grin that Luka found to be almost…sexy. He held her on his lap like a seatbelt might hold the passenger in a car. "I know you hate it when I do anything romantic in public."

"Romantic? This is downright weird." Luka said, worming her way around so that she was facing him. "But if you aren't going to stop…" she slipped one of her arms free and sipped it behind his head. She brought her face close so that their noses were only inches apart. "I'm going to have to…."

Gakupo pulled her mouth into his before she could finish. Luka was hardly surprised and found herself kissing him back more passionately than she could remember doing before. His hands released their grip on her body; one of them pressed into the small of her back and the other lifted and adjusted the position of her legs to make her more comfortable. Both arms free, Luka wrapped them around his neck and pulled herself as close to him as she could get.

"Hey!" someone hollered. They ignored him, pretending there was nothing in the world aside from the two of them and their embrace. This obviously irritated the person further. "Hey! Get a room, why don't you?"

Heat flooding her cheeks again, Luka slowly pulled away. For a second, she saw a look of disappointment staining his perfect face. As she slid off of his knee and onto the seat next to him, she smiled at him only to notice that his attention was elsewhere.

He was glowering at the man who'd been shouting at them, who was snickering amongst several other drunk looking men at the bar. She looked at the table to see that his hands were clenched into fists, his knuckles white with effort as his nails dug into his palms. Luka placed a hand over one fist, causing him to suddenly jerk his head around to look at her. It was as if he'd been detached into some world of anger and Luka had suddenly whipped him back with a lifeline to reality.

"Don't," she whispered, slipping her hand into his as she felt his knuckles relax. "He's not worth it."

"He may not be," Gakupo said, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "But you are."

Gakupo released her hand and stood, sliding out of the booth. Several pairs of eyes turned to watch as Gakupo stormed his way over to the group of men, who stopped their laughing and turned to scowl at him.

"You want something, ponytail boy?" one of them slurred.

"He's here 'cause he wants to look cool in front of his girl," another one said, sounding more than slightly drunk. "He wants to look like he doesn't take shit from nobody 'cause he wants to get…."

"Shut up!" Gakupo snapped, grabbing the guy by his shirt collar. "You shut the fuck up. You don't know shit about me! You don't even…."

"We don't have to know you." A guy with greasy black hair and dark eyes sniggered, a bit of drool forming at the corner of his mouth. Gakupo recognized him as the man who'd called him and Luka out. "You're just like every other guy in the world. We're all the same, buddy, and we all want the same thing. I'm guessing you know what that thing is." He started to elbow Gakupo, but he grabbed his arm and twisted it behind the man's back. He cried out in pain, and one guy grabbed Gakupo from either side. Gakupo grinned as he kicked one in the shins, causing him to recoil in pain and release Gakupo's arm, which he used to punch the other guy in the nose. When his fist connected, there was a disgusting crunch of bone and a scream from the man. Gakupo laughed as his opponents flailed around in their drunken pain like dying fish.

"Hey!" the plump bartender hollered, stepping between Gakupo and the group. "Take your fights out of here!"

"He started it." One of them complained.

"What are you, five?" the bartender asked, his voice heavy with mockery. "I don't care who the hell started the fight, I'm ending it. All of you, out!"

"I didn't even get to finish my drink." Gakupo muttered, walking back to the booth he'd left Luka sitting in.

"You might've been able if you didn't spend so much time snuggling with your girlfriend there!" he heard one of them shout. "Seriously guy, you're in public. Try not to be so revolting next time."

Gakupo stopped.

"Those are big words for a little boy who just happened to find some friends and some booze." He said without turning around.

"What are you saying, you bastard?" the greasy haired man asked. "You implying somethin'"

"Oh nothing really," Gakupo said nonchalantly. "Just that I doubt you're even old enough to be in a bar, the way you act. I've met eleven year olds more mature that you."

"And I've met six year olds with better insults." The black haired man said as Gakupo continued his walk toward Luka. "Seriously, I'm surprised she's still hanging around kissing you. Just get it over with already, man! Do it so you can get rid of her like you…."

Gakupo spun on his heel and flew on top of the greasy haired man. His fist connected with his gut, cutting off whatever he had been about to say. The man made a strangled bird noise as he went down, but Gakupo wasn't finished. He fell to his knees and started bashing the guy's head in repeatedly. He could feel the hands of the bartender and several of black haired man's friends on him, trying to pull him away from the man he was destroying in front of him. His adrenaline allowed him to easily shrug them off as the blood pounding in his eardrums deafened him and the killer white rage made him blind to everything except the cowering man in front of him, blood spilling out onto the floor.

The uproar of voices behind him was distant and unimportant to him. All that mattered was obliterating what was in front of him, a horrible, putrid, disgusting excuse for a human being. People like that needed to die, people who ever insulted him of Luka in that way didn't deserve something so precious as life.

"Gakupo…" It was a familiar voice faintly calling his name from somewhere far away. He ignored it the way a normal person might an alarm clock. "Gakupo! Gakupo!" The voice grew steadily louder, as if the source of all of it might be coming closer.

"Are you sure about this?" a different voice, one he didn't know. The familiar voice replied with something he couldn't decipher, but he was pretty sure he caught the word "try".

Suddenly there was a pain of thin arms wrapping around him, encasing his torso. A familiar hard, sarcastic voice whispered into his ear.

"Gakupo, stop it. You're going to kill him."

The words were firm and straightforward, pulling Gakupo out of his rage and causing his arms to fall limply at his sides. He closed his eyes and fell backwards, allowing the familiar person behind him to catch him.

"Is he alright?" the soft voice rang through the silent room as a tapping of sneakers was heard. When he opened his eyes, he saw Luka standing over him, looking down in fear. He gave her a small smile before forcing himself to sit up, taking his weight off of the familiar woman behind him.

"It's been a while." He commented casually, turning to face the colorful girl behind him. "I missed you, Galaco."

"You're such an idiot, Gakupo." Galaco shook her head at him. "A bar fight? Seriously? I thought you were better than that."

"Sorry, but not everyone can go out of their way to meet your standards all the time." He hauled himself to his feet, watching as a crowd formed around the man he'd obliterated. "I should probably go before they force me to leave."

"Then let's get out of here." Galaco said, standing and dusting off her jeans. "I'm not going anywhere. We have some catching up to do, and besides" she turned to look at Luka "I heard you finally picked yourself up like a real man and got over me."

"That was over before it started." He reminded her, poking her forehead. "We both knew there wasn't anything going there."

"Really? Because you were like a lovesick puppy the entire time." Galaco laughed. "You were practically in love with me, but now you finally found another person. I'd like to say I'll bet it will last, but I know it won't. None of your relationships ever do. And on what planet does a worker date his boss and stick with it?"

"We'll see about that." Gakupo said with a small smile. "I'll even bet you on it."

"Oh like I have any money." Galaco reminded him. "Or anything to gamble with at all, really"

"Whatever, let's just leave before someone calls the cops." Gakupo eyed the bartender suspiciously,

"Yeah, let's go." She turned and headed for the door, Gakupo at her side. After a second of watching them walk, Luka realized that she should follow and meekly followed after both of them, trying to take the feelings that had popped up inside of her when Galaco had caught him in her strong, warrior-like arms after he had fallen back.

…

The only sound he could hear when he strode into the apartment, arms heavy with paper shopping bags, was the soft thump of his shoes on the carpet. Setting the bags on the table, he went in search of Lily, who he knew would be somewhere in the apartment.

He walked into the bedroom, where she was most likely to be staring out the window while she waited. _He_ would have sat down beside her and taken her hand, sitting for a moment before taking her out of the room to get something to eat. They wouldn't speak, but the moment wasn't one that would have required any words.

But Lily wasn't there, he noticed when he walked into the room. She wasn't sitting on the floor where he'd thought she would be, and she wasn't to be found anywhere else in the room. After a moment of searching, he walked out of the room and began searching through the kitchen, out on the balcony, in the closets, anywhere really.

Then it began, the sobbing. He silently followed the sound over to the bathroom door, which was open just a crack. He peered through, widening his eyes slightly when he noticed her lying on the floor in a pool of shattered glass and blood. Without a word, he began to slowly open the door. Unfortunately for him, the door creaked loudly and attracted her attention, causing her to look up like a startled deer. He sighed and opened the door all the way, shedding some light on the bloody, crying girl. Her eyes grew huge with fear and her muscles tensed, as if she was ready for a fight.

"_You" _she hissed upon seeing him. "Why are you here? How did you find me?"

"Call it instinct." He said, a small grin spreading over his face. "Besides, I would've thought you'd _want _to see me again."

"I'd shoot my own foot before I ever willingly went to see you." She informed him, struggling to her feet. "You're a monster, you and your father."

"My _father _is in prison." He said, striding over to her until he was almost right in her face. "Because of you and the others, I might add."

"We didn't do anything." Lily reminded him. "They found us, and if anyone gave us up it was probably a customer."

"True." He said, shoving his dirty face extremely close to hers. "But I've managed to take it all back up again, now that my dad's in jail. You can come back, Lily, and everything will be the way it was before. We need you." He took one of her hands in his.

She held eye contact with him for a moment, allowing him to hold her hand. But the trance ended as quickly as it began, sending Lily snapping out of his grasp and striking him across the face, wincing as several pieces of glass dug farther into her arm.

"No one touches my hand." She said, taking a step back from him. "Except Kiyoteru."

"You mean the man who kidnapped you and locked you in here for the last month?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "He gets to hold your hand? While here I am offering you your job back, and I get called a monster. I never hurt anyone, Lily. I have never trapped a woman anywhere and forced her to do anything. I was the son of a man who paid women to have sex with his customers, but never forced them to do anything. I don't see how you view me as worse than the man who's apartment you have been living in."

"I have my reasons." Lily said, but she was beginning to have her doubts.

"Like what?" he laughed, stepping forward and shoving her to the ground. "You love him? Is that the best damn thing you can think of?" He waited for a response, but Lily said nothing as she climbed back to her feet. "It is, isn't it? Come with me, Lily. You can get your life back to the way it was before, back to normal."

Lily stared at him for a moment, her hand traveling subconsciously to the lump on her belly. He noticed it and looked down, suddenly realizing her motives.

"You're pregnant?" he asked, not sounding surprised. "From this guy?"

"Not him," Lily whispered, hoping it was enough of a lie to pass by him. "A customer. I have no idea who it was."

"So what will staying with a psychopath do to help you?"

"Kiyoteru isn't a psychopath!"

"Oh shut up, you little bitch." He snapped, smacking her cheek with extreme force. "You don't know what you're talking about. Do you wanna know how I found you here? I saw that crazy bastard wandering down the street, mumbling to himself about you. He talked and talked about where you would be, what you would be doing, what he had done to you, every single little thing. I followed him around, listening ever since I first heard him mention the name _Lily Saber. _That guy's insane, you have to have figured that out by now."

"Why do you care?" Lily asked, staring at the floor. "It's my problem. He isn't abusing me or hurting me, so you have no reason to get involved. Besides, since when do you care about me? Before I was just something for you to screw with when your sick father let you and your dirty little friends into the…"

"I told you to shut up!" the toe of his boot connected with her shin, causing her to wince horribly and pull her leg in, leaving the other leg to support her unbalanced body. He slipped around behind her and kicked her behind her knee, causing it to buckle and sending her back down onto the broken glass. "I'm not going to listen to your shit, you little slut. You hear me? I wanted to do this the easy way, but it looks like you're not gonna cooperate, are you?"

"Why should I? You're a liar."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"When you said you hadn't ever done anything to a woman before, you were lying." She looked up at him, staring him dead in his furious eyes. "I know all about you and what you love to do to girls. You're a sick little boy Dell, nothing more."

"Shut the fuck up!" he bellowed, swinging his foot at her head, knocked her straight out of consciousness.

…

"You're insane." She said, staring at him over her cup of coffee. Her eyes were empty and tired like they often were when she couldn't sleep. "Secretly dating Miku? As in, a rich girl with cancer?"

"Wait a second," Kaito said, raising an eyebrow. "She told you?"

"And apparently she finally told you." Meiko ripped the top off of a packet of sugar and dumped it into her coffee, stirring absently. "Yeah she told me a couple weeks ago; she wanted to know how she should tell you and how you'd take it. She came to me because I'm probably your closest friend, and I'd know you the best."

"So what did you tell her?" Kaito asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes with his dirty hand.

"I told her to wait because you're crazy and overreact to everything." Meiko said, sipping her coffee. "So she needed to wait until she felt close enough to tell you something that personal. Did she?"

"I feel pretty close to her." Kaito said with a shrug. "And she feels the same as far as I know. She saved my life twice, Meiko. You don't not feel anything toward someone who cares enough to do that."

"You helped save her life." Meiko pointed out. "You're still all banged up from when that happened. You never got any medical help."

"I thought we were even after that, then she saved my life a second time." Kaito's eyes wandered around the room and stopped on Meiko. "She saved me the same way you did, that time, from myself."

"You have posed a bigger threat to your own survival than anything else on this planet ever has." Meiko pointed out. "You have been your own worst enemy for longer than you think."

"Well I can't exactly do anything about that." He said, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair.

"You can actually try to take some control for once instead of letting your emotions pilot you around all the time." Meiko took another sip of her coffee, her eyes focused on the thin, dark brown liquid swirling inside the Styrofoam cup. "No girl is going to stay with you if you keep that up. She's not just there as a life ring, you know."

"I know." Kaito assured her, but the idea was bothering him. Was that the only reason he felt like he wanted Miku? Because she had saved his life multiple times? Or was there something deeper to him, something that he wouldn't see?

"Feel like shit." Meiko mumbled, changing the subject. "I haven't gotten any sleep lately, not to mention that I'm working all day, not like anyone but Miku ever comes in here."

"What about Gakupo?" Kaito asked, wondering about the long haired man who'd helped him fight off the gang member the previous month.

"He's always off with his girlfriend now." Meiko said, rubbing an eye. "They eat together all the time, and he hardly ever comes in here now that she pays him enough money to buy better."

"Wait, you mean he's going out with his boss?" Kaito raised an eyebrow. "That's a little weird, considering he has something against upper class people."

"She isn't rich, though. She not exactly penniless, but she isn't some millionaire bitch either. She pays him pretty well, but she supposedly gets the money from some old relative who's funding her."

"Supposedly? You think she's lying?"

"I think she had a funny way of telling the truth." Meiko said. "I met her once when she came in here with Gakupo. She had all of her hair bunched up inside this little beanie and had it pulled down low over her eyes. She was really quiet and blushed every time I tried to start a conversation with her. Sound suspicious to you?"

"A bit, but she's paying him isn't she?"

"I don't trust her. She's obviously trying to hide her identity, and why would she want to do that if she hadn't done anything shady."

"Even if she did something, what could a little girl like that do to Gakupo? I saw her after the fight, and she's pretty small compared to him. Gakupo's gigantic."

"There are a lot of other things she could be doing, Kaito." Meiko dumped the last few drops of coffee down her throat and tossed the cup across the room and into the trashcan. "I don't know why he trusts her so easily…"

"Meiko?"

"What?" her voice was tinged with irritation.

"Are you jealous of Gakupo's boss?"

Meiko was silent. She stared down at the table, her knuckles white as milk when she clutched the edge. Her arm was quivering, as if she was trying to break a piece of the table off. Meiko was a strong woman, but Kaito had never seen her under any stress like this.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"

"Yes." Meiko said, a tear dripping from her misty eyes. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Kaito wasn't sure how to respond. He sat there awkwardly, unsure if he should comfort her or ask her about it or what. He didn't understand women, what they wanted, and when exactly they wanted what they wanted because apparently if you give them what they want at a time they don't want it the whole world dissolves into a pit of fire and hell.

"He never understood how I felt." Meiko muttered, gripping the table's edge harder. "He's just so stupid; he can't even take a goddamn hint. He was so blinded by that stupid manipulative bitch Galaco before, and look where that got him. Now he's going after another fake girl with a fake identity who's pretending to be nice to him. You watch her break his heart, Kaito. You just watch how another one of his terrible decisions will come back to bite him in the ass."

"If she's faking it, she's pretty damn good at it." Kaito commented, remembering the way she had reacted when she arrived at the crime scene. "You should've seen her after the fight. She was holding onto him and crying like a little girl. I heard her saying that she had been scared of him dying in the fight, and how he'd worried the hell out of her. If anyone can fake something like that, they deserve an award."

"I'm not going to suddenly trust someone for the way they reacted to something like that!" Meiko said obstinately, bringing her fist down on the table in a fit of passion. "The odds are against her being innocent, Kaito. She's a threat to Gakupo…."

"You mean she's a threat to you." Kaito interrupted, narrowing his eyes at Meiko. "Your envy is talking, not you. You don't really think any of these things about this girl. Hell, you don't even know her."

"I know enough." Meiko said, scowling at him. "I'll prove it."

"How?"

Meiko stared at him for a second, as if she hadn't thought of that before. She opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated. All of a sudden, she choked up and clamped her eyes shut, trying to stem the oncoming flow of tears.

"I….I….I don't know how to deal with this!" she stammered, her voice one big sob. "I love him but…..he doesn't even know I exist! I've been there for him for years…..hell I've loved him since the day he saved my life! But he always goes chasing after those kinds of women. The beautiful ones, the smart ones, the deep ones, even his shithead boss! I'm never going to be good enough for him, so he keeps going out there and getting his hear broken by all these random, beautiful ladies. Why can't he just open his fucking eyes and look at what's sitting right in front of him!"

She kicked out at the table leg, creating a loud _ding _that resonated through the building in a shaky echo. Her head fell onto her arms as she sobbed, letting out all the tears she had been hiding from Gakupo since she met him. Kaito sat and watched her, still unsure of what to do. He turned and looked to the window, watching the flood of people wander through the streets, flowing in a million different directions. He didn't see any familiar faces, but he hadn't exactly met every person in the city, especially because people were always coming and going. Nothing was constant, not even the people he had thought he was close with. He had thought he had known Meiko, but she had apparently been in love with Gakupo and was in a paranoid, envious passion over his girlfriend. He had also thought he was getting close with Miku, but she had apparently been hiding away the fact that she was dying of osteosarcoma. There is never a moment in your life where you know everything about everyone, he realized, and even if you come close to that, people change in a heartbeat.

"Not everything is clear to other people the way it's clear to you." Kaito said, turning back to Meiko. "It's not that he doesn't see you; it's your feelings that are invisible to him."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Meiko said, her voice heavy with an unreleased sob.

"Oh do I?" Kaito said, shaking his head at the girl as she only proved his point farther. "You stupid, blind girl."

Kaito reached across the table and grabbed Meiko's hand, clenching it in his fist as he stared straight into her tear-filled brown eyes. He leaned across the table so that it pressed painfully into his stomach and planted a kiss on Meiko's small lips.

* * *

**OH MY GOD I AM SO FUCKING SORRY FOR UPDATING SO LATE! I'm not even going to make excuses and just come out and say it. I've been really distracted and lazy and that's why I'm updating so late. Feel free to murder me in my sleep for keeping you waiting so long, but I promise I won't take that long this time! I'll try to get back to uploading on Sundays! Sorry for the lack of Miku, BTW.**

**Okay! Done ranting! Question time!**

**Kaito kissed Meiko! Why do you think he would do something so unfaithful?**

**What is Dell going to do to Lily? What was in those bags he was carrying into the apartment?**

**How is Galaco coming back going to affect Luka and Gakupo's relationship?**

**Were you surprised to find out that the person harassing Lily was Dell?**

**Where is Kiyoteru? KIYO! WHERE FOR ART THOU?**

**I had a dream where some creepy guy shot one of my best friends and raped the other after kidnapping me. What could this mean?**

**Why am I telling you about my dream?**

**Do you think the events in this chapter will affect the overall outcome of the story? (besides the whole issue with Lily and Dell, because that's obviously a major problem)**

**Do you follow me on tumblr or twitter?**

**Do I need better questions?**

**Why hasn't Meiko been sleeping?**

**WHO HERE LIKES COFFEE? I spilled mocha all over my favorite shoes this morning while waiting for the bus. :(**

**What recommendations do you have for the story? (Stop telling me to add in Gumi)**

**Do you want lemons?**

* * *

**HOLY PANCAKES GUYS WE'RE ALMOST TO 2,000 VIEWS! Share this with your family and friends and readers and writers and dogs and cats and fish and mice and guinea pigs and lamps and potatoes and followers and favoriters and world domination cult leaders and whoever else you can! WE NEED TO DO THIS PEOPLE. DO IT BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME!**


	14. Chapter 13: An Abundance of Assholes

Chapter Thirteen: An Abundance of Assholes

_What the actual fuck is going on in this bastard's head right now._

Meiko didn't think about it, she just sent her fist into his jaw in a clean, sweeping punch, causing his head to jerk to one side and allowing her to shove him back into his seat. He swore, rubbing his jaw where she had punched him and scowling at her.

"Was that necessary?" he asked with a tone of annoyance.

"What the hell was that?" she demanded, kicking his shin underneath the table.

"It's called a kiss. Now stop trying to physically disable me." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Have you seriously been so blind all this time to never see it? You really never noticed how I felt about you? You say that Gakupo was so blind to your feelings because he spent all him attention on chasing after Galaco, but how can you judge him when you were doing the exact same thing to me?"

Meiko was stunned. She had never seen any sign of affection from Kaito before, but had she ever actually looked at him? Had she ever really stopped to listen to what the blue haired man had to say? Had there ever been a time where she had looked into his eyes and searched for emotion or attraction the way she did every time she saw Gakupo? The only time she had ever done that was after she had caught him looking at Miku.

"What about Miku?" she asked quietly.

"I'm not like you, Meiko." Kaito laughed. "I know things get hopeless. I know when to move on and find someone else, which I did. I love Miku, and I know now that I never could have loved you that way. You wanna know why?" When Meiko didn't answer, he continued anyway. "Because I know that Miku loves me back. She is able to return the feelings I have for her, something I know you could never do. You need to give up this fantasy and get on with your life. Find a guy who will love you and care about you, not someone you have a hopeless crush on."

Meiko laughed bitterly. "You make it sound like we're twelve or something; hell I'd even think you were talking about a twelve year old if I overheard this conversation."

"That isn't the point, Meiko." He said, grabbing her arm angrily and staring into her wandering eyes. "Look at me. Look right into my eyes and promise me that you'll stop sitting around and making yourself miserable thinking about him."

Meiko sighed and flicked her eyes over to look at him, trying in vain to return the intensity he was burning into her eyes with. But she was tired, and it wasn't just from her lack of sleep. Her entire being felt empty and drained, as if something was missing.

"I'm sorry, Kaito." She said, turning away from him. "But I can't do that." She slid out of the booth and started walking back toward the kitchen.

"Are you stupid?" Kaito shouted after her, getting out of the booth himself to follow her. "What do you mean you 'can't do that'? Stop trying to sound all dramatic! This isn't a movie!"

"Go away, Kaito." She said, not turning back to look at him. "Leave me alone."

"I live here to, you know!" he pointed out. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I meant, go away from me. Just stay here and wait for my dad to come back. I want to be alone for a little while. I need time to think."

"You need time to think? How stupid do you think I am?" he had caught up to her now. He grabbed her shoulder roughly and spun her around to face him. "Don't you remember? Those were the exact words I said when I left here before the first time I tried to kill myself. I don't know what you're about to do, but I'm not going to let you do it."

"I'm not doing anything, Kaito." She brushed his hand off her shoulder. "And for the last time, leave me alone." She turned and headed walked straight into the kitchen, leaving Kaito standing behind her. He didn't follow her, remembering how he himself had felt on that day he had left the café to think, and had ended up fighting a gang of people attacking Miku. Although he hadn't been very successful, he had stalled them long enough for Gakupo to find them. As for now, he was pretty sure that Meiko was more stable than he had been, so she wasn't likely to try anything stupid.

He sighed and walked back over to the booth, knowing Meiko was right. He fell back into the seat, looking to the window. It was dark outside, he realized, meaning they must have been arguing for quite a while. With a groan, he folded his arms on the table and dropped his head onto them, realizing how tired he was.

"I'm a walking cyclone, destroying the lives of everyone in my path." He his voice muttered, his voice muffled by his sleeves.

…

"So, what were you doing in that part of town?" Gakupo asked, leaning back against the park bench, one arm around Luka. "You usually avoid the rougher areas."

"I was looking for someone." Galaco explained. "An old friend, but he never showed up. I saw you murdering that guy in front of you and felt obliged to stop you before you got arrested."

"Oh please, it was a bar fight in a rough area, no one was going to turn us in." Gakupo brushed the idea aside with a sweep of his hand. "Besides, that guy deserved it."

"Oh really? When I saw you, I thought you might have just been completely drunk, but it really wasn't much of a surprise to see that you were sober. You've always had issues with your emotions."

"And you've always has no regard for anyone's emotions. You don't even seem to have any." Gakupo was beginning to sound slightly less friendly.

"Then what did that guy to deserve that beating you gave him?" Galaco asked, raising a mocking eyebrow as she kept her cool, not even caring about Gakupo's insult.

"He was mocking us." Luka said, coming to Gakupo's defense. "Gakupo didn't want to see anyone making fun of me, so he went up to that asshole and taught him and his friends some manners. Of course, the guy started shouting at Gakupo and saying something about…"

"That's enough, Luka." Gakupo said firmly, leaning forward and staring down at the ground, his arm no longer over her shoulders. "Stop,"

"I'm sorry," Luka said, feeling bad that she had upset him. She hated to see him unhappy, but it was a way he often looked. She slumped down in her seat and fell silent, afraid of making him feel any worse.

To her surprise, though, he straightened back up and turned to grin at her. He pulled her back under his arm and into his body, smothering her with the warmth of his body. He blushed at his public display of his affection, but didn't fight him. She knew he was just trying to cheer both her and himself up, so why shouldn't she let him?

"Nah, don't be sorry." He said, kissing her forehead. "You didn't do anything."

"If I may interrupt," Galaco's sarcastic tone turned the heat between them to ice, dragging them back from their embrace to the park. "What's the big deal with what this guy said? Why can't she tell me?"

"It's none of your damn business." Gakupo said, his voice cold. "I don't see why I need to explain myself to you."

"Whoa, Gakupo. Why so cold all of a sudden?" Galaco laughed. "I guess you were right in saying that I have no regard for other people's emotions, but why should I? I don't need to go out of my way to make every little person I meet feel oh so special and perfect. I can do what I want."

"I see you're no less of a bitch then you were two months ago." Gakupo commented. "You never will change, will you?"

"I'm not changing for anyone. If you want me to, then you need to go find a new friend. I don't give in to what society or anyone else wants me to do. I do what I want, and there's nothing you can say or do to change that."

"Sometimes when people tell you to change, it's for a good reason." Gakupo's eyes were sad, Luka noticed. She reached out and trailed her finders along his cheek, capturing his attention. When he turned to look at her, she straightened up and gave him a short, fleeting kiss, letting her lips rest on his for no more than a second. When she tried to pull away, however, he refused to let her escape, pulling her as close into his muscled body as he could without hurting her. "It could mean finding someone you love."

"The closest I ever came to love was pity dating you." Galaco said, rolling her deep brown eyes. "And why should I ever go looking for something that will only drag me down? We can't all be like you two, snuggling and kissing and protecting each other whenever you get the chance. Not all of us can have that. Some people have lives that can only be lived with one person, that being yourself. Any attachments would only hold you back."

"What exactly makes you one of 'those people'?" Gakupo raised an eyebrow at her, obviously unconvinced.

"I move at a different pace from everyone else. I live my own life, and I live it without anyone else around to restrain me. I don't like other people in my business, and I don't like it when people tell me to stop moving so fast and wait for them to catch up, you know what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," was all that Gakupo said, but Luka could tell from the unresolved tone of his voice that he wanted to say more. She rested her head on his shoulder, hoping to give him some comfort. He gave her a small smile and patted her beanie-clad head. Galaco looked at the beanie as if she were noticing it for the first time and frowned.

"You bald or something?" she asked, her sarcastic mood returning.

"I….I…." Luka stuttered. No one had ever asked about her hair before, so she was unprepared for Galaco's question.

"She likes to keep her hair covered." Gakupo came to her rescue, squeezing her shoulders protectively. "It protects it."

"That's stupid." Galaco said, frowning as if she didn't believe him. "And why don't you let her speak for herself?"

"Can't you see that she's uncomfortable talking about it?" he replied, his voice turning sour. "Leave her alone."

"Whatever," Galaco shrugged, dropping the subject. "It doesn't matter anyway."

"Galaco," Luka piped up, leaning forward to look at the colorful girl who sat on the opposite side of Gakupo. "Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?"

"Luka," Gakupo warned, his voice filled with worry. "Are you sure…."

"She wants to talk to me, Gakupo." Galaco interrupted, standing up from the wooden bench and stretching. "Let her make her own choices."

"It's fine, really." Luka said, pulling out of his clutches. "We just need a minute."

Gakupo looked into her eyes for a moment, as if it was his way of saying "Are you sure about this?" and she nodded her response. He returned the nod and broke eye contact with her, leaning back in the bench once again.

The two young women walked away from the benches and the fountain centering them. They walked down a path of stones until they reached a children's playground. Galaco leaned against a metal pole that held up a swing set, looking at Luka skeptically.

"Well?"

Luka sighed, mustering all the courage she had to speak to this woman who frightened her so much.

"Why did you ever agree to go out with Gakupo in the first place?" she asked quietly, feeling her face turn red.

To her surprise, Galaco laughed, throwing her half blond, half brunette head back in amusement.

"What?" Luka demanded, heat filling her cheeks. "What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing," Galaco said, smiling mischievously. "It's just the way you say it makes it sound like we're middle school kids or something. And I only did it because I was fed up with his sulking and staring at me all the time. It was driving me insane. He was like a lost puppy, and I took him in for a little while to make him feel better."

"You didn't do it because you didn't want to see him so unhappy?" Luka was calculating every word that escaped Galaco's lips. "You didn't care about how he felt at all?"

"Not everyone can be a saint, sweetie." Galaco said, absently cleaning her fingernails. "Some of us only like to help ourselves."

"You'll never be happy that way, you know." Words were spilling out of Luka's mouth. "You'll never find anyone who cares about you, not even family. You say that you don't want other people around to slow you down, but to me it seems that you use that as an excuse around other people to compensate for the true unhappiness you feel due to your repelling effect on most humans, causing a lack of people who care for your wellbeing. You don't like it when other people pity you or try to help you because it makes you feel weak and embarrassed that other beings have seen your weakness. Your selfishness can be helped, but you make no attempt to and instead choose to live with the consequences."

Galaco glared at Luka for a moment, her chocolate eyes burning their way into Luka's gleaming blue ones. A feeling of pure hatred passed between the two of them for a moment. Normally Luka would have felt fear in this situation, but now she only felt anger and a will to win. Her primitive urges were kicking in, creating a desire to become dominant over the only other female within her life who posed a threat to her and her relationship with Gakupo.

Without warning, Galaco swiped Luka's beanie off her head with lightning reflexes, sending her long pink hair tumbling free from it's bindings.

"Hey!" Luka cried, reaching to grab her hat back. But Galaco was too quick for her, always moving it out of her reach.

"I knew it! I thought I recognized you! You were that lost rich girl who came into the shop two months ago, coincidentally on the same day Gakupo got his new job. You're hiding from him so that he won't leave you! You know he won't love you once he knows you're rich!"

"Shut up!" Luka cried, diving at Galaco for the beanie. The girl with the multicolored hair easily sidestepped her, dodging every attempt Luka made to retrieve her precious hat. She laughed at her as she stumbled and flushed violently red with effort and embarrassment.

"You stupid rich girl, you know I'm right, don't you? You know that now that I know, you're secret is basically a lost cause. C'mon, look me in the eye and tell me that he'll accept you when I tell him."

"Shut the fuck up!" Luka growled, changing tactics and diving straight at Galaco, hoping to take her down. Unfortunately she sidestepped, causing Luka to trip and hit the ground, Galaco laughing over her.

"You _do _know I'm right!" Galaco said delightedly. "You know that his passionate hatred against the upper class is twice as powerful as any little feelings he has for you."

"That's not true!" Luka pulled herself to her feet, diving for the hat again. "Gakupo loves me!"

"I'm sure he thinks that too, but tell me, does he talk about how he hates rich people and their smug, selfish ways? Does he complain about how no one ever does anything to help people like me and him? Or does he constantly talk about you and how much he loves you?"

Luka roared in anger, trying to kick the other girl in her shins, but she easily avoided her unskillful attacks.

"You're nothing to him! And you'll mean even less once he knows the truth!"

Luka slowed down, puffing from the effort of retrieving her hat. She stopped struggling for what she knew she couldn't achieve and fell back into a sitting position the soft green grass.

"Fine, you win." Luka said, feeling tears form in her eyes. "But tell me, why the hell do you care so much?"

"It's like I told you, I'm only looking out for myself." Galaco said with a triumphant smirk. "You insulted me and said things about me, so I dominated you. It's as simple as that, smart ass."

"Whatever, just give me my beanie back, please?"

"What're you going to give to me for it?" Galaco crouched down, bringing herself to eye level with Luka. "Huh, bitch?"

"What do you want from me?" Luka asked. "Money?"

"Oh no, that's not what I want at all." She grabbed Luka's chin and forced her to look into her eyes. "I want something simple. It won't cost you any money or physical pain, I can promise you that."

"Alright, what is it?"

Galaco smirked and pulled Luka in close to whisper her request into her ear.

"I want you to fire Gakupo."

…

Her wrist was almost searing with pain as he dragged her along behind him. She jogged to keep up, but he was tall and thin with extremely long strides, causing him to walk much faster than her.

"Walk faster, Miku." He demanded, giving her wrist a quick jerk that brought her up beside him. "I swear to god you're part tortoise."

"I'm sorry." Miku mumbled, rubbing her arm. "I just can't move very well these days, you know?"

"Don't bring that up." He said, lightly whacking her arm. They were in public, so his abuse of her was very restrained. That was why Miku much preferred being out in public with Mikuo. Society was her shield from him, even though he was doing as much damage to her wrist as he could without actually damaging it. "I dislike it when you talk about it."

"Sorry, again." She said, moving as fast as she could without going ahead of him as they moved through the park. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Be glad I was hoping you would ask," he said threateningly. "I wanted to find someplace quiet now that my mom's always around at my house. I hate loud places; they make it hard to think."

"Thinking isn't something that can be made difficult; it's focusing on those thoughts that you find yourself unable to do."

"Don't start with me, smart ass." He said, tightening his grip on her wrist threateningly. "I might not be able to do much now, but I can so whatever I want when we get home."

"Sorry, Mikuo." She said, wincing in pain as he suffocated her wrist. "Please stop, you're hurting me."

"You don't tell me to do anything." He growled. "I'll stop when I want to stop."

"Sorry….again….." she hissed through clenched teeth, trying to keep the pain out of her voice.

"Hey you listen to…..what the hell is that?" something had caught Mikuo's attention, halting his stride and releasing his grip on Miku's wrist. She turned and looked in the direction that had caught his attention, searching for what had caught his attention. She noticed it almost immediately, causing her hand to fly over her mouth.

It was him, the white haired boy Dell. He had been the one who had attacked her and Mikuo in the alley. After that, they had agreed to never go near anywhere like that again. He was dragging someone behind him; a woman who looked like she was half conscious. She had short golden hair and was slouching horribly. Her clothes were torn and her arms were covered in blood.

"Mikuo…" Miku's voice was thin and nervous.

"I know." He said quietly. "C'mon, we're getting out of here."

"But what about…" Miku began, but he grabbed her upper arm and pulled her out of sight of Dell and his captive "Hey!" she cried, but Mikuo slapped a hand over her mouth, pulling her behind a small group of trees.

"Listen to me," he said, getting in front of her and staring her dead in the eyes. "Don't be stupid. I'm not about to risk my neck to save some stranger, and even if I wanted to, I wouldn't last a minute. Remember what happened last time? I hate to admit it, but I got my ass kicked. We are getting as far away from that maniac as possible, got it, Miku?"

Miku nodded slowly, knowing she was defeated. She knew Mikuo was right; there was nothing either of them could do to help the woman, despite how much she wanted to. Miku wasn't sure if it was out of empathy for another human being, or it was because she wanted her life, short as it would be, to matter in some way. She wanted to make something of herself before she ran out of time. It being that she was growing weaker and weaker every day, she knew she would lose her chance soon.

With as much force as she could, Miku ripped herself from Mikuo's grasp and ran out from behind the trees. She didn't hear him call after her, but she hadn't expected him to. He wouldn't give a shit if something happened to her as long as he saved his own skin. She sprinted to where she saw Dell pulling the woman along and full on tackled him, sending him unprepared and shocked into the ground. She started beating at his exposed head with her fists, drawing a string of grunts and curses from Dell. He threw her off of him as if she weighed nothing, sending her tumbling into the grass. Someone shouted her name, and the next thing she knew there were arms around her. She looked up, hoping for the impossible, hoping for Kaito.

But it wasn't Kaito who had grabbed her, it was Dell. He looked at her and grinned, obviously knowing something that she didn't.

"Well, look at my luck." He said, slowly crushing her with his muscled arms, "It's the little bitch who caused all that trouble before. You're lucky I'm not in the mood to snap your delicate little neck right now, because believe me I would. You, matter of fact, just made my day, sweetheart." His red eyes seemed to glow with anticipation. "We're going to have some fun with you."

Miku struggled against his grip, grunting and squirming under his grasp. She tried to scream, but her throat was dry and her voice too hoarse to make a sound. She was panicking, every little bit of self-defense she had picked up vanishing from her mind. Pain was flaring up in violent amounts in the areas where Dell was crushing her.

"Put her down!"

Dell turned, allowing Miku to see who had spoken. But Miku didn't need to see, she had been surprised enough by his voice.

Mikuo stood right behind them, his fists clenched and his breathing heavy. There was an air of defiance floating around him somewhere, but his aura of absolute rage flared up around him, capturing everyone's attention.

"If you don't want to end up in a puddle of your own blood, kid, then I suggest you get the hell out of my business."

"Just leave, Mikuo!" Miku shouted hoarsely. "It doesn't matter! I'm going to die anyway!"

But he ignored her, staring straight at Dell, arms ending in clenched fists hanging by his sides.

"You better listen to the girl." Dell said, a smug look on his face. "If you know what's…"

Dell didn't have time to finish as Mikuo leaped forward and sent a fist into his gut, causing him to lurch forward, but still hold onto Miku. As Mikuo reared up for a second strike, Dell moved his captive in front of his body, like a human shield. Mikuo's eyes grew large and he stopped his strike midflight, giving Dell a kick to the shin instead. Dell swore and hit Miku over the head with extreme force, knocking her out as he dropped her on the ground. He spun around and swung a fist into Mikuo's chest, causing him to grunt and cough up a bit of blood. Using Mikuo's delay to his advantage, Dell spun around and sent his elbow into the blue haired boy's ribs, creating a series of sickening crunches and a roar of pain.

Falling to his knees, Mikuo felt his ribs exploding with pain. He coughed violently, hacking up even more blood. Dell kicked his side, knocking him over. Moaning in pain and vomiting blood, Mikuo knew he had possibly punctured a lung and had several broken ribs. But aside from that, he knew he was done for.

_Well, at lease let it be said that I died slightly less of an asshole than what I was. Someone better write that on my headstone._

He looked up and saw Dell leaning over him, wearing the smirk that he recognized as the one he often bore himself. He suddenly realized that the two of them weren't so different. In fact, the main difference that Mikuo noticed was that Dell actually had friends and people who listened to what he had to say. Mikuo had never had anyone but Miku, and all he'd ever done was abuse her and touch her. She had never been a person to him, but rather just something to satisfy his primitive desires.

"Miku," he mumbled. "I'm sorry."

Then there was nothing.

…

Gakupo had been waiting for Galaco and Luka when he heard the sounds of what could only be the cries of someone in excruciating pain. Jumping to his feet, Gakupo ran in the direction of the shouts, not even stopping to think about whom they might belong to.

When he emerged through the trees, his worst fears were confirmed. There was Honne Dell, lifting up the unconscious body of a familiar teenage girl with long, turquoise hair. There was a woman with short blonde hair sitting at his feet, curled up into a ball and covering her ears. Her wrists were soaked with blood and seemed to be still bleeding. A few feet away, there was a blue haired boy lying with his head in a small puddle of blood and what appeared to be vomit. He looked unconscious, or at least that's what Gakupo was hoping.

With a deep sigh, he stepped out from behind the trees, knowing what he had to do.

"Wow Dell, looks like you really outdid yourself this time." He commented, capturing the white haired boy's attention. "Two girls in one day?"

"I see you aren't dead; what a disappointment." Dell said, returning to his own affairs as he grabbed the blond woman by her arm and yanked her to her feet, drawing a small whimper from her. "If you don't want to end up like that guy," he jerked his head toward Mikuo. "Then I suggest you get out of my way."

"You really think I'm just going to sit by and let you do this?" Gakupo almost laughed. "Don't forget, you're the one who ran away like a little bitch last time."

"It would've been suicide to stay." Dell commented. "Or at least it would have been the equivalent to throwing myself in jail. Sometimes retreating is the smart thing to do, or at least that's what they tell you."

"Apparently you're too familiar with my mind games." Gakupo shook his head, smiling. "We've known each other too long, my friend."

"You're hardy in a position to call me friend." Dell commented, flipping the girl around his shoulders and in front of his body. He grabbed her in a choke hold and grinned at Gakupo "Unless you're wanting me to snap her neck, that is."

"I could care less." Gakupo said distastefully. "I really just want to smash your head in, Honne."

"Why don't you try, then?" he said with a grin, dropping the girl into the grass like a sack of flour. "Let's go, ponytail boy."

…

The sound of the leather soles of his shoes slapping against the concrete echoed in Kiyoteru's ears as he sprinted down the street. He shoved people out of his way, not caring as they shouted at him and cursed him out. There was only one subject running through his head, but a million questions.

_Who took her? Where is she? What happened? I'm going to fucking murder whoever did this. He will scream and writhe in pain as I kill him slowly and painfully. Whoever took her is going to lose all of their limbs so that they can never touch her again._

Shoving his way through the crowded streets, Kiyoteru ran blindly with no idea where he was going. All he cared about was finding her and punishing whoever had decided to hurt her.

He had come home to see the bathroom mirror shattered and blood all over the floor. Lily had been nowhere in sight, and he remembered her promise to never run away again. They had been so happy, so why would she have decided to break that promise?

Then he had realized that she hadn't run away, _she'd been kidnapped. _He had flown out of the apartment at top speed, not even caring enough to shut the door, not like anyone on his floor would ever steal from him. He had nice neighbors, and one of them was likely to close it for him.

But he didn't care about that now, all that mattered was finding Lily and getting her away from whoever had taken her. He was disgusted and blindingly furious at whoever had taken her; what kind of sick person kidnapped an innocent, helpless, unstable, pregnant woman?

* * *

**Of course I'm fucking late again! Not only that, but this chapter is WAY too short. GODDAMMIT H.A.H.!**

**Ah to hell with it. It's question time!**

**What are Galaco's motives for telling Luka to fire Gakupo from his job? How will Luka react?**

**Why did Mikuo feel the way he did when Dell beat him?**

**Why didn't Lily run from Dell when she had the chance?**

**How will the fight between Dell and Gakupo turn out?**

**Notice anything about what happened between Kaito and Meiko?**

**Was that not enough Kiyo?**

**Why was Miku yelling to Mikuo to leave and save himself because she was dying anyway?**

**Why is Galaco such a bitch?**

**Why is Dell such a bastard?**

**Why is anyone anything?**

**Why am I asking such retarded questions?**

**Why do you even like to answer these?**

**WHY AM I STILL HERE?**

**Have a good week, guys! Murder me if you want to!**


	15. Chapter 14: What Love Is, What Pain Is

Chapter Fourteen: Love is a Fistfight, Pain is Two Ugly Words

"I can't believe you." Gakupo said, the corners of his lips turning up into a small smile. "You used to be so much better than this, Dell. But now you've stooped down to going after every woman who comes into your field of vision."

Dell sneered at him, baring his teeth and making a sort of feral growling sound before charging Gakupo with a raised fist. Gakupo sidestepped the boy's attack and tripped him, sending him sprawling into the grass due to his momentum. Dell scrambled to his feet with a snarl before diving at Gakupo, grabbing at him. Gakupo once again moved out of the way and buried his hand in the back of Dell's jacket, swung him around, and slammed his head into a tree. There was a shout of pain and anger accompanied by a cracking sound and quite a bit of cursing. Dell twisted out of Gakupo's grasp, blood flowing down one side of his head. He kicked out into Gakupo's stomach, causing the long haired man to momentarily double over. When he tried to straighten up, the red eyed boy grabbed him by his long hair and smashed his head into a tree, bringing a cry of pain from his throat and a blur of red and tears into Gakupo's eyes, screwing up his vision. This gave Dell his chance to repeatedly smash Gakupo's skull into the tree before throwing him on the ground and stomping on his chest.

Gakupo coughed violently, rolling out of the way when Dell raised his leg to stomp on him again. He jumped to his feet behind the boy and grabbed him in a choke hold with one arm, pulling him into his chest and bashing him over the white-haired head with his free hand. Dell kicked Gakupo's shins, getting him to let go out of pain.

Both of them grappled, heads bleeding and vision unfocused. Gakupo slammed on top of Dell, pulling at his hair and squishing his face into the dirt. Digging his knee in between the thug's shoulder blades, he jerked his head up and shook it hard, sharply yanking it in random directions and twisting it hard enough to make the boy scream. He reached behind his back and grabbed Gakupo's knee, bending it so that it dislodged itself from its place in his back. Knocking him off balance, he twirled so that he flipped him into the grass, putting Dell in a position where he could roll over and get to his feet before driving his heel s far as he could into Gakupo's stomach.

"Remember this, Kamui?" Dell asked, smirking through the blood coating his face. "This was the exact position I had you in last time, when I would have killed you if it hadn't been for that blue haired bastard. But there's no one here to save you now, you little shit."

Gakupo made a small gurgling sound, choking on a glob of blood and mucus. He grabbed onto Dell's ankle and, upon pulling it away from his torso, twisted it as hard as he could with extreme force and sharpness. There was a snapping sound and Dell screamed, falling backward. Gakupo hauled himself to his knees, his vision blurred with tears of pain. He was a tough man, but this was just too much.

He kicked Dell in the ribs before proceeding to kneel down and place both knees directly on his chest in an attempt to crush his sternum. Dell choked and wheezed, unable to draw breath from under the enormous weight of the muscled man kneeling on him. Gakupo punched Dell in the nose, listening to the crunch as it easily shattered under his fist, obviously not fully healed from the last time he had done that. Dell tried to wail in pain, but only released an awkward hiss of air. Gakupo grinned; he was going to kill this little shit before he raped anyone else.

"You little shit," he hissed, spitting in the boy's face. "What are you, eighteen? You're only a child, and you've already gone down this fucked up road? As long as I've known you, all you've ever been is a pervert and a rapist and a killer. You're a selfish little boy, Honne. I think it's time I sent you back to hell."

"Stop."

Gakupo whipped his head around, slightly reducing the pressure of his knees of Dell's chest. He saw the green haired girl from before standing with her fists clenched at her sides. He noticed a large bruise turning a sickly shade of purple on the side of her head.

"What the hell are you doing?" Gakupo shouted at her. "Get out of here, you idiot!"

"Don't kill him." She said, stepping toward him. "Not even he deserves that."

"I don't know what shitty religion you follow, but I really don't care at this point." Gakupo growled, a deep tone rumbling in his chest. "You have no idea what this guy has done. He tortures and kills people who don't pay him the money they owe. He kidnaps and rapes their girlfriends, like you and that blond." He jerked his head toward the woman who was curled into a fetal position, whispering to herself. "You need to get the fuck out of here and stop acting so stupid!"

"This has nothing to do with religion," she informed him, walking around to stand in front of him. "It's about…"

"I don't give a damn about your reasons." He said, cuffing Dell across the cheek. "You'll get out of here if you know what's good for you, which you don't seem to."

"I may not know what's good for me, but it doesn't matter." Gakupo rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this kid and her games.

"Fascinating," He said, grabbing Dell my the hair and banging his head against the ground. Dell wheezed, his sternum still under the weight of the purple haired man.

Out of nowhere, something slammed into his side, catching him off guard and knocking him over. Frustrated and swearing, Gakupo rolled over and pinned the girl to the ground.

"You think tackling me is going to solve anything?" he sneered, his breath hot in her face. "I don't know who the hell you are, and I really don't care. But you seem like you lived quite the sheltered life. The world is nothing more than a hellhole filled with selfish, cruel bastards and ignorant, self-centered, uncaring, rich brats just like you. You need to get it through your thick skull, _some people deserve to die."_

She didn't struggle against his grip, but made a face of what could only be agony. Restraining his urge to slap her, Gakupo slowly hauled his injured body off of the frail girl. Turning back to Dell, he sighed and gave him a single hard kick to the head.

"Get your ass moving." He said. "I'm feeling nice enough to let you go, but if I ever see you touch another woman…" he bent down close to the boy and whispered into his ear. "I will not hesitate to crush your skull and rip your throat out. Am I clear?"

Dell made a small groaning sound, letting Gakupo know that he had damaged something in his chest. The white haired boy half crawled half dragged himself out of sight, disappearing into an ocean of trees.

Gakupo turned back to the girl, who was now on her feet again. She opened her mouth as if to start an argument, but Gakupo turned his back to her and stepped over to the blonde woman.

"Hey," he said gently, kneeling beside her. "Are you alright?"

The woman stopped sobbing and looked up, uncurling from her fetal position. Gakupo noticed that her arms were soaked with blood and had several pieced of glass imbedded in them.

"Can I see your arm for a second?" he felt like he was talking to a child, but this woman was obviously unstable and about to fall apart. She scooted back, defensively pulling her arms into her chest. Gakupo smiled at her and gently reached out, opening his hand welcomingly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to get that glass out of your arm."

The woman looked at him apprehensively for a moment before holding out her right arm. Gakupo took it gently and began to tenderly pull out the larger pieces of glass, slowing down every time she began to wince or protest. He whispered reassuring words as he helped remove all the bloody glass that he could, trying as hard as he could not to cause her too much pain.

…

"I…" Luka stuttered, not knowing what to think.

"And I don't just want you to fire him," Galaco continued, smirking. "I want you to stop seeing him. Just leave this damned city and forget you ever met him."

"So you want me to fire him _and _break up with him?" Luka asked nervously.

Galaco nodded, grinning much more broadly than she should have been.

Luka thought it over, knowing she was doomed either way. If she said no to Galaco, Gakupo would find out that she was the girl from the music store a couple months ago. He would most likely reject her, crushing both of their hearts. However if she left him, he wouldn't be angry with her, but instead distraught. Their separation would kill them both, and she knew it, but was it still better than him hating her?

Before Luka could respond, however, there was a sudden and loud shout of pain that echoed through the trees, sending flocks of birds flying away. Both of them looked up, staring in horror in the direction of the scream. They were silent for a few seconds, not knowing what to do.

Then they heard the second cry, and Luka recognized it immediately.

Not thinking, she made a beeline in the direction of the shout. She shoved her way past Galaco, ignoring her shouts after her to come back. Groaning in frustration, Galaco chased after her, muttering about how this was the reason she avoided relationships with people.

Luka followed the sound through a maze of trees, blinded by her mindless instinct to find the man she loved and stop whatever pain he was in. She had no plan, and she wasn't thinking about where she was going or what she was getting herself into, but she just wanted to end any pain he was in.

After what must have been at least five minutes, she found her way to him, bursting out of the trees with heavy breaths. She observed the scene in front of her; Gakupo was helping a woman covered in blood remove something from her arms that looked like glass. He appeared to be fine, but injured in several areas on his head and body. He didn't notice her, but instead seemed very focused on the job in front him. Luka sighed, knowing what she had gotten herself into. She had made her choice, and there was no going back now.

She walked over and sat down next to him, taking the woman's other arm, she began to remove the glass slowly and carefully the way she saw him doing it. He glanced at her, giving her a strange look before turning back to the woman's arm. Luka let a curtain of hair fall between them, not wanting him to see her face just yet. She was scared, and she knew his reaction would be inevitable. He wasn't going to accept her, but he might as well know the truth if Galaco was going to force her to admit it.

Once she had gotten as much of the glass as she could out of the woman's arm, she turned to see that Gakupo was no longer sitting next to her. Surprised, she looked around, and when she saw where he was, her stomach plummeted.

He was walking over to Galaco, who was waiting for him with a smirk plastered on her face. She was ready to ruin Luka's life.

…

"Where's Luka?" Gakupo asked, rubbing a large lump forming on the side of his head. "What the hell did you do?"

"I didn't do anything." Galaco said, holding her hands up in surrender as she smirked at him. "She did it to herself."

Gakupo raised an eyebrow, stepping closer to Galaco.

"What are you talking about?"

"You've been lied to, Gakupo." Galaco said with a smirk. "She's been nothing but a dirty liar all this time."

"The hell are you going on about now?" a dangerous edge was creeping into his voice as he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. "Where is she?"

"She's…" her voice was cut off as Gakupo started shaking her, jerking her thin body around in front of him.

"What did you do to her?" he said through clenched teeth, trying not to shout. "What the fuck did you do?"

"Gakupo."

The voice came from behind him, causing him to freeze. He released Galaco, allowing her to fall back with a snide grin overtaking her face.

He spun around, not knowing what to expect after what Galaco said. Once he saw her, he was absolutely shocked.

"It's you." He murmured, not knowing what to think. "The pink haired woman from before….Luka?" He stared at her long and hard. This couldn't be Luka. This woman couldn't possibly be the girl he'd fallen for.

"Yeah," she whispered, her face turning red and her eyes filling with tears. "Galaco, could you at least give me the hat back now? I want to have a little bit of dignity when he rips my heart out."

Galaco sighed and tossed her the beanie, which she caught in one hand and slid back onto her head, not bothering to tuck her hair in. He stared at her for a moment, trying to process his emotions. She'd been hiding from him _this whole entire damn time. _She hadn't trusted him to keep himself together enough to just come out and tell him that she was the rich girl from the music store! Was he really that crazy and unstable about the upper class that she couldn't just tell him who she really was?

"Luka," he whispered, taking a step toward her. "Luka, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said, her face a mess of tears and her voice choking on itself as new sobs bubbled up. "It's my fault for keeping this from you."

He stepped even closer to her, his head bent over as he stared down at her skinny little form. She turned and looked down at the floor, awaiting his fury.

And he was furious, but the very fact that he felt angry with Luka disgusted him more than anything she had done. He was a sick, prejudiced, uncontrollable man. He should never be around women, or anyone really, especially not someone as fragile as Luka.

Seeing her crying ripped him apart inside. He wanted to just take her up in his arms and comfort her, holding her and kissing her until she felt happy again. He wanted to be with her and keep her by his side all the time. There was no agony worse than what he currently felt by seeing her cry like this.

He was doing this to her. It was all his fault.

Turning his back on her, he hardened his voice and said two final words.

"We're done."

And with that, he walked away from her, heading toward the park gates.

…

It took him longer than it should have, but he eventually found her. She was curled up on the ground in a fetal position, hugging her knees to her chest and crying. Without a word, Kiyoteru swooped down and knelt next to her in the grass, scooping her up into his arms. She looked surprised for a moment before reaching out and wrapping her arms around his neck, smearing blood all over his shirt. He pulled her in close, smelling her salty not-quite-the-ocean-but0not-exactly-sweat-either scent. Feeling the warm wetness trickling down his neck, he pulled her off in concern, his eyes bugging out of his head when he saw the blood.

"It's nothing. It's fine." She whispered into his ear over and over again, trying to grab back onto him, but he held firmly onto her bloody arm.

"No it's not." He said, stroking her short hair. "You're hurt, and we need to fix that."

"Okay," she whispered, burying her face in his bloody shirt. Before long, her tears were soaked into his shirt and shaky sobs were rattling her entire body. He patted her back, shushing her as he held her.

"Kiyoteru…there…..there's some…something wrong with me!" She sobbed, clutching onto his shirt. "I…I couldn't even recognize myself in the mirror! The mirror made me mad, so I smashed it. That's how I cut myself, it wasn't the guy who attacked me."

"There isn't anything wrong with you as far as I'm concerned." He said, gently tilting her chin up to look at him. "But I need to know who did this to you. Who dragged you out here?"

"It….it was someone I used to know." Lily hiccupped, her crying uncontrollable. "His name's Honne Dell."

"Honne," Kiyoteru muttered, recognizing the name. "So it's that bastard's son. I remember him from the…"

"Don't say it!" Lily shouted, making everyone nearby jump. She ignored them; she only had eyes for Kiyoteru. "I know who he was, but he's in prison now. It's his son I'm worrying about."

"I'm sorry I brought it up," he said, taking her hands and helping her to her feet. "Let's just go home."

She nodded, staring up at him with drained, exhausted eyes. Her life just kept spiraling down, and every time she thought she had it under control, something went wrong again. It was just an endless cycle of madness and lies, always to come back to the same pain of her past. She had wanted to forget ever since she was released from jail, but something always dragged her back to it. It was almost like no one wanted her to escape her pain, her past. It would always be like this, she realized, nothing would ever change.

She took him by the hand and let him lead her. They walked away from the people standing around them, the strangers who had decided to help her. Had Lily looked up or even paid attention, she would have seen that the man with the long purple hair was no longer around, or that the woman with the pink hair was sobbing violently and cussing out the girl with too many colors in her hair. But Lily didn't want to know about any of these things. She just wanted to go back to Kiyoteru's apartment where it was quiet and warm. The chilly air nipped at her exposed wounds, adding a biting irritation to her bloody agony.

Once they were far enough from the people, Lily started to cry again. She latched onto Kiyoteru's arm and sobbed into his sleeve, crying about everything she had been thinking over. Kiyoteru did nothing but pat her back and listen, not even bothering to adjust his awkwardly positioned glasses. Every word spilled through her lips in a torrent of passionate, uncontainable sobs that ravaged out of her body, refusing to be locked up. He held her in a way that was more fatherly than what you would expect from a lover. He supported her all the way out of the park, intently taking in everything she was saying. When she was finished, he shushed her and stroked her hair. Together they made their way back to the apartment, where he found the door to still be open, but no one had gone inside.

Kiyoteru gave Lily a hug before going into the bathroom to clean up the glass. With nothing better to do, she wandered into the kitchen to see three large paper shopping bags sitting on the table. She stared at them for a moment, wondering if Kiyoteru had gone grocery shopping. Curiosity overtaking her, Lily peeked into one of the bags, looking down into it as one might do into a large chasm, fearfully yet inquisitively.

There wasn't food inside the bag, but something else entirely. Frightened, she backed away from the bag and ran for the bathroom, shouting for Kiyoteru.

These weren't his bags.

…

"You're an idiot." He muttered, running a hand through his slicked back brown hair as he dropped Dell into a chair. "What the hell happened this time?"

"It was that little bitch we tried to get last month," he confirmed, letting his head loll back lazily as he relaxed his beaten body. The chair was small and wooden, but it wasn't crumbling underneath him, which was good enough for him. He felt worse than he ever had, but that was probably because he'd never gone into a fight with someone as strong as Gakupo without backup before.

"Are you telling me that kid's girl did this to you?" Al said, raising an eyebrow. "She didn't exactly seem too dangerous when we got her last time. And besides, I thought you were going out to look for Miki, Lily, and Gumi."

"I was, and it turns out Gumi went running back to her rich parents, and I have absolutely no idea what happened to Miki." A sly grin suddenly spread over Dell's face. "But I found Lily."

"You found her?" Al was impressed. "Where?"

"She's living with some rich psycho uptown. They're together or some shit like that. Bitch lost her mind. I got her out of the apartment, but Kamui found me when I stopped to grab the little green haired girl."

"That was a dumbass move." Al shook his head.

"I wasn't planning it. I was trying to cut through the park to get Lily here faster, but the crazy girl tackled me. Opportunity came knocking, and I wasn't going to leave it sitting out in the rain."

Al sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere with Dell like this. There was no one more stubborn than him. The only reason the boys had put him in charge in the first place was because his daddy had access to a few decent sluts. The man hadn't given two shits about his son, not even when he'd come back from some brutal gang fight half dead. Dell was only eighteen, and the only person who had ever taken care of him was Al. He'd been like an older brother to him. He had practically raised him since Dell's mom left when he was a kid. Al was three years older, but that didn't really matter. Dell had become his responsibility over ten years ago, and he wasn't about to dump the kid now.

"Alright, so now what?" he asked the red eyed boy.

"Lily doesn't have to be a main target; she's not really worth anything anymore." Del said, his eyes focusing on something that wasn't there. "I want the pretty little green haired chick. I want to get back at that bastard Mikuo. I might have left him dead back in the park, but we can't be sure."

"You want her here with Prima and the others?" Al asked, knowing his friend's answer.

"Hell no." Dell grinned sadistically. "I want her all to myself. Her shithead boyfriend owes me quite a lot by now, and he isn't going to pay it off anytime soon. She's also pretty damn sexy if you ask me. I want her, and I'm not stopping until she's mine."

Al sighed, knowing that Dell meant what he said. There was no fighting that stubbornness, despite that he was a head taller and twice a broad as Dell. He couldn't bring himself to hurt the kid, despite what an asshole he was.

"Do you have any sort of plan?" he asked, raising a hand to the crudely stitched up wound that ran across the knuckles on his left hand, a reminder of what had happened in their last fight. "I'm not throwing myself out there to just get all fucked over again."

"Oh I have an idea." Dell said slyly. "I think it's time we pulled out my dad's favorite toy again."

"You do realize that none of us know how to use that thing." Al pointed out, trying to take his own focus off of his screwed up hand.

"We'll learn." Dell waved his hand dismissively at his friend. "It can't be that hard, can it?"

"Whatever," Al said, leaning back with a sigh as he rubbed his temples. "I need a nap. I haven't slept in forever."

"You do that." Dell said, hauling himself to his feet. "I'm gonna go grab a shower. I'm covered in blood and sweat."

"Don't hurt yourself, you're still all banged up. Try not to get killed in there."

"It's a shower, not a battlefield." Dell's sarcasm was back, a sign that he was feeling better. "It's be a pretty lame headstone though. _Honne Dell. Died Age 18. Cause of death, hot water and a cheap tiling job."_

Al laughed and turned to leave the room. Dell was a sadistic, psychotic rapist, but Al was going to support him no matter what he chose. He would stand by him no matter what.

It wasn't like he hadn't done worse things himself.

…

Everything was spinning. The entire world around him was a crazed blur of spiraling colors, hurting his head and making him want to close his eyes. He needed to sleep; he could get up later.

Well, his body wasn't about to let that happen.

There was an explosion of pain in his chest, starting in his ribs and spreading throughout most of his chest and abdominal area. He groaned, feeling as if he was slowly being ripped in half. As his vision cleared, he noticed someone calling his name.

"Mikuo? Mikuo are you okay?"

"Look he's moving a bit! He made some noise!"

"Mikuo? Can you hear me Mikuo?"

"Is he awake? His eyes are open."

"Can you see, Mikuo? If you can, give me a sign."

Once his eyes had focused, enabling him to see who was bending over him, he had already figured it out. He reached up, grabbed her by her hair, and pulled her head into his as hard as he could. Her mouth slammed against his, causing her to make a small noise of surprise and protest. He ignored her, sitting up to kiss her better. The movement sent lightning bolts of pain through his body, but he pretended they weren't there. He was a tough kid, but apparently not very strong, he realized as he remembered where he was and what had happened. His stomach lurched, but he didn't stop kissing Miku. Instead he wrapped his arms around her slender neck and pulled her as close to him as he could. She made a few more protesting sounds, but stopped the second he reached up and pinched her cheek. That had been a warning sign between the two of them since the beginning of their "relationship". It was the signal that if she didn't cooperate, he was going to beat on her until she did.

"Are you alright?" Mikuo pulled away from Miku for a moment to look up at two women standing over them, one with long pink hair and one with half blond, half brunette hair with a limited rainbow on one half of her bangs. He noticed that the pink haired woman had been crying and the woman with the originally colored hair looked almost bored.

"Not really," he said, pulling himself into a sitting position. Immediately a shiver of pains shot up his wind pipe and left him coughing up even more blood. "I feel like I was run over by a bus and force fed needles for ten minutes."

"Pleasant." The colorful woman said, squinting her doey brown eyes as she cringed. "But do we need to get you to a hospital?"

"I can call an ambulance if you need one." The pink haired woman said, shooting a glare at the brown eyed woman. "By the way, my name's Luka. And this bitch is Galaco."

"I am the bitch." Galaco said, raising her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, but I would like to take you up on that previous offer for an ambulance call." He look up at Miku, who seemed distracted and zoned out. He sighed and leaned back. "Damn, my parents are going to kill me."

"How old are you anyway, kid?" Galaco asked as Luka dialed a number into her phone and stepped away to talk.

"Seventeen," Mikuo said with a shrug. "Why?"

"You're picking the wrong fights too early, you know that?" She laughed bitterly. "I've been down that road kid, and it ain't fun."

"I have a name you know." He said, surprising Miku by grabbing her around her waist and pulling her onto his lap.

"I'd really love to hear it." Galaco's sarcasm was so thick it was practically tangable. "I'll put it on my agenda right after stabbing myself in the eyes with a fork."

"My name is Mikuo." He informed her, ignoring her comment. "And this is my girl."

"Does your girl have a name?" Galaco said, sitting next to Mikuo on the grass. "Or should I just call her girl?"

"She…"

"My name is Hatsune Miku." Miku piped up, finally speaking for herself. "And I would prefer you don't call me 'girl.'"

Mikuo trailed his fingers along Miku's cheek, stopping to give it a small pinch before turning her head toward him and kissing her again. He may have not been able to touch her or slap her in public, but she couldn't do anything more than be his little puppet to guide through this confrontation with strangers.

"You might want to take it easy there if you don't want to make your injuries any worse." Galaco advised, frowning at the kissing teenagers. Mikuo slowly pulled away, laughing as he leaned back against a tree behind him. The laugh quickly turned to a grimace as another wave of coughs and blood surged over him.

"Mikuo?" Miku whispered shyly. He turned from his retching to look at her, raising an eyebrow. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Why did you help me after he grabbed me? Why didn't you run?"

"What, you expected me to just leave you back there with him?" he asked, smiling mockingly. "Why do you think I went to help you?"

"Well, it's just that you could have left and not risked yourself, but you did anyway for me, even though I'm already dying…"

Mikuo spun and grabbed her by the shoulder, gripping it with as much force as he could as he pulled himself up onto his knees and stared straight down at Miku.

"I thought I told you to stop mentioning that." He said, squeezing her shoulder enough to make her wince. He stared her down for another moment before he broke into a new bloody coughing fit. He didn't bother to move, and neither did she. She ended up with a mixture of Mikuo's blood and mucus splattered all over her chest. She didn't even flinch, but only stared up at him in wonder. What game was he playing?

"Sit down for Crist's sake!" Galaco said, shoving Mikuo onto the ground. "You're going to kill yourself, you idiot!"

Mikuo grumbled something before finally relaxing, turning his head to look away from Miku. She stared at him for a moment before sighing and standing up to stretch. She turned and started walking toward the woman with the pink hair and light blue eyes, named Luka, who she could see was putting away her cell phone.

"Did you call someone?" Miku asked once she'd reached her.

The woman, Luka, nodded. "Yeah, an ambulance should be here soon."

"Oh, good." There was a moment of silence between the two of them, it being that they had no idea what to talk about. After a second, Miku broke the silence. "So why do you seem so mad at your friend?"

"We're not friends." Luka snapped, making Miku jump. "She's my boyfriend's ex, and she just ruined my relationship with him."

"What happened?" Miku didn't like to be nosey, but Luka seemed like she needed to talk it out.

"Let's just say I was keeping some secrets, secrets that would destroy me if he found out. But Galaco found out, and he learned everything."

"Was it something you did?" Miku asked.

"No, more like who I was." Luka said, shrugging and hanging her head. Her long bangs fell over her crystalline eyes. "But it doesn't matter. He's gone, and now I'm just going to have to move on." She turned and started to walk away, heading toward Galaco and Mikuo.

"Didn't you love him?" Miku couldn't help the thoughts of Kaito she felt surfacing. She tried to imagine if he had left her when she'd told him about her cancer.

Luka stopped in her tracks, turned around and gave Miku a small smile. But that didn't' change the fact that the rest of her face was a mask of frozen pain.

"Honey, there's no such thing as love."

* * *

**I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UPDATE! I know, I know I say that every time but it's because I AM SORRY FOR MY LAZINESS AND STUPIDITY! And Kaito wasn't even in this chapter...DAMMIT H.A.H.!**

***sigh* I need to get my shit together. Answer questions while I do that.**

**Why did Gakupo leave Luka? **

**Why do you think I decided to include that bit with Dell and Al?**

**Are you annoyed with me? (If you aren't, you should be)**

**How do you think Lily feels about everything that's been going on?**

**What's in the bags Lily saw?**

**Why do you think I'm isolating Kiyoteru and Lily from everyone else so much?**

**Hey, I like your shoelaces!**

**What is Dell planning? What is his father's "toy"?**

**What are you going to do for Halloween?**

**Is it fitting that, after I told them about my zombie fic, my friends have determined (due to my psychotic sadism) that I am married to Satan, and my new nickname is "The Queen of Hell"?**

**What are you noticing about that last sentence from Luka? What is her attitude becoming like?**

**Do I swear too much in these stories?**

**What do you think will happen to each character in the next few chapters?**

**Bye guys! Feel free to assassinate me as usual!**


	16. Chapter 15: Kisses, Memories, Curiosity

Chapter Fifteen: Kisses, Memories, and Curiosity. Oh my!

Miku watched as her blue headed "boyfriend" was lifted onto a gurney and carted up a ramp and into the ambulance. She turned to the blond curled nurse standing next to her, who was checking something on a clipboard.

"Is he going to be alright?" she asked, catching the nurse's attention.

"From what we can tell, all of his injuries are internal. He may have some broken ribs and things, but the worst of it seems to be a punctured lung. We can't be sure of anything yet, but it seems like he'll be fine."

Miku nodded, trying to look relieved. But she couldn't help the crushing felling of disappointment bubbling up in her heart. If only something happened to him, she could be free of his hands. Those goddamn hands that were always beating and abusing her when they weren't taking her clothes off and groping her. He was a monster, and she hated him more than she'd ever hated anyone. But what could she do? She was terrified of him, and she knew what he would do if she ever told anyone.

_"Do you know what I'll do if you try to run away?" _Mikuo had asked.

_"You'll take me to the train, far away where no one can get me." _She had finished. She knew he would see his promise through, but that didn't make her want to tell anyone any less. Not even Kaito knew what Mikuo was doing to her, and she didn't want him to know. He had enough to take in, knowing that she was going to die in a few months. It was estimated to be around February, or at least that was what she had been told. Couldn't she just have a few days to be happy before the end?

A hand suddenly placed itself on her shoulder, causing Miku to flinch. She turned to see that the hand was attached to a long, pale, slender arm belonging to Galaco. The brown eyed woman smiled at her and put an arm over her shoulders.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Just fabulous," Miku said with a sigh, letting her head fall back as she turned to look up at the sky. There were a few clouds, but other than that the sun shone freely. There was a light chill to the air, but nothing too drastic. Everything seemed so peaceful and perfect from far away, but once you got closer and looked into the picture perfect city, all of the flaws became visible. The death, the rape, the murder, the discrimination, all of it, there was no such thing as perfection. The only ones who found it had chosen to blind themselves and ignore the horrors that surrounded them. At first glance, Miku seemed like a girl who had a perfect life. She had wealth, family, education, everything people think you could want. But the few people who had looked closer had found out the truth. People like Haku and Sonika, even Kaito knew that her life was anything but perfect. She was a dying cancer victim with an abusive and lustful boyfriend. People, like the purple haired man, never bothered to look close enough to realize who she really was.

"Your boyfriend is an asshole." Galaco said, pulling Miku out of her thoughts with a start. She had forgotten she was there.

"I know." She responded quietly. "But there isn't anything I can do about it."

"I'm not one to pry, Miku, so I won't. But if you ever need help, I would not recommend talking to Luka."

"I wasn't expecting that to turn into a joke." She said, giving the woman a small smile. "I talked to her about her boyfriend. What exactly happened there?"

"I don't think she wants me going around sharing that story, and I happen to like my limbs. If I have any real advice, it's: don't get between a girl and the man she wants if you don't want a few bruises and a good laugh."

"You're crazy." Miku said, pulling away from Galaco. "Totally crazy."

"Don't you think I know that already?" she asked, stepping around to stand in front of Miku. They were just outside of the park, and Luka had already left to go work on something. "People have been telling me that for my whole life. Galaco's crazy, Galaco's a bitch, Galaco's a whore, Galaco's a sarcastic asshole, but what do I care?"

"I'm not asking you anything." Miku said, turning to walk away. She made it about two feet before Galaco was in front of her again.

"You think you're so clever, don't you?" Galaco laughed.

"The only one here who thinks she's clever is you, Galaco." Miku said, trying to maintain her composure. "What's your problem anyway? What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything, really." Galaco said, stepping uncomfortably close to the turquoise haired girl. She reached over and grabbed one of Miku's pigtails, twirling her fingers through it. "You just annoy me. You're here with your pretty hair and your pretty face and your expensive clothes; it makes me sick." Before Miku could react, Galaco reached out and shoved her to the side, pulling her hand back and walking away.

"The hell was that about?" she muttered, turning and continuing in the direction she had been headed. It was going to get dark soon, and she needed to get home. Her parents weren't going to be happy that she and Mikuo had been attacked again, and they would probably make a bigger deal out of it than was needed.

She sighed, knowing it was inevitable, and started running toward the bus stop.

…

"It'll be fine." Kaito whispered, stroking her long hair. It had been freed from its ties and was flowing down her back again. He liked it best like that, he decided. It made her look older, more mature. "We'll be on the other side of town."

About three weeks had passed since the attack and fight in the park. There had been no sign of Dell or his accomplices since the attack, but the police were all searching for them, but had come up with nothing.

"What if we see someone I know?" her voice was low as she buried her face in his neck. "What if they tell my parents? And how am I going to convince them to let me go so far from home by myself?"

"Tell them you'll be going with Haku and Sonika." Kaito suggested. "They like them, don't they?"

"But what if they see each other? They'll realize I lied and they'll freak out, my dad especially."

"Miku, you need to relax," he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his lean body. "Your friends seem to be the kind of people you trust, so why not tell them the truth and have them cover for you?"

"I don't want to feel like I'm using them," she said, returning the embrace. "I don't think they'll like it either. What if they tell?"

"Is that something your friends would do?" he murmured, bringing his mouth to her ear so no one would hear them. "If they would, I don't know if they're really your friends."

"Don't say that." She said, trying to keep her focus. She wanted so badly to melt into his embrace, stay with him and him only forever. That obviously wasn't an option, but she had come to a point where, when she was with him, she had to constantly remind herself that. "Sonika and Haku love me more than anyone. The only reason they would tell is if they were worried about me."

"What is there to be worried about?" She felt his lips brush against her ear. His shaggy blue hair was in her face, getting in her eyes.

"You need to remember, my friends are really cautious people. They'd only be worried that you'd hurt me or something."

"I'd never let anyone touch you, let alone hurt you myself. I care about you, Miku. And you need to make sure they know that. I'm not going to force you to do this, and if you don't want to…"

"No." she said, kissing his neck. "I want to. If you're there, I'm ready to do anything."

"Anything?" he asked mischievously, raising an eyebrow where she couldn't see. She pulled back from him, blushing when she realized her mistake.

"Oh shut up; you know I'm not ready for any of that yet." She said, twisting her leg nervously as she stood from her seat on the side of her bed. Kaito laughed, standing up with her. He stepped close to her and bent down to whisper in her ear.

"I love you, Miku."

She ran her fingers through his tangled, filthy hair. Standing on the tips of her toes, she touched her lips to his in a light kiss. Pulling away, she reached out and caressed the side of his face, smiling. He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her into him, shoving his mouth against hers.

It was a strong, passionate kiss from both sides. He held her there for a while, moving his lips against hers. He crumpled the fabric of her shirt in his hand behind her back, using his fist to crush her against his body. She grabbed at his hair and clothing, wanting more and more from him every second. She wanted him and everything about him, his past and all. She didn't care who he was or what he had done, she only cared about now. He held her like he never wanted to let go, trapping her in an embrace filled with such passion that could only come from two people who loved each other as much as these two.

There was a knock at the door, forcing Miku to pull away from him. He let their mouths be separated, but he didn't release her from his arms.

"Miku? Are you in there?" it was her mother's voice.

"Yeah mom, just give me a minute." Miku called, turning to look at Kaito. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "You need to hide."

He nodded, gently touching his lips to her forehead before silently walking into her closet and shutting the door. Miku sighed and went over to let her mother in.

"What's up?" she asked, trying to look as normal as possible.

"Miku, we're worried about you. You've hardly left your room in days and you're barely speaking to papa and me. We know this is hard for you; it's hard for us too, but you can't waste what time you still have left sitting in your bedroom. What about Sonika and Haku? Haven't you seen them in a while? The last time you went out was with Mikuo, but he's in no condition to be out again. He reinjured a lot of areas that weren't in great shape when you two were attacked in the alley." She sighed, as if she were disappointed that the perfect boy she knew wasn't around to hang out with her daughter. Miku internally sighed, wondering what her mother would think of the boy if she knew what kind of monster the boy really was.

"Actually, mama," Miku said, remembering her and Kaito's conversation. "I wanted to ask you if I could go out with Haku and Sonika to some new shops across town. They aren't sure of the details yet, but I'm going to talk to them about it later!"

"That sounds great." Her mother said, smiling and hugging her daughter. "You can go out with them but when?"

"Tomorrow after school, actually," Miku said, hoping the close date wouldn't change her mother's mind.

It didn't. "Sure, you can go. I could trust you with those two any day."

"Thanks mom." Miku gave her mother another quick hug before retreating back into her room, closing and locking the door behind her. She listened to her mother's footsteps, waiting until she was far downstairs before she went into the closet and told Kaito to come out.

"I heard everything," he murmured, bringing her into his arms. "I'm glad she's so trusting."

"It's not over yet," she reminded him. "I still need to talk to Haku and Sonika."

"That can wait." He scooped her up bridal style and carried her over to a chair in the corner. Sitting down in it, he set her on his lap with her back to him and set one of his hands on her shoulder. She looked at him for a second, her neck twisted in a semi awkward position, as if she was wondering what to do. He smiled at her and pulled her in close, bending his neck so that his mouth hovered just above the nape of her neck. "Miku?" he whispered, his breath giving her chills.

"Hm?"

"You're so beautiful," he said, letting his lips brush her hair and skin. "So beautiful," he kissed her neck. "and kind," he moved down a little bit, planting a second kiss just below the first. "and loving," He continued with the list of compliments as he kissed his way down her neck. Once at the bottom, he began to work his way around her collarbone, still whispering kind words. Eventually, his chin found itself hooked over her shoulder and his hands were around her waist, preventing escape. She leaned back into him, letting him hold her and kiss her. No longer caring about anything else, she let her body melt into his, inhaling his deep, earthy scent. He obviously wasn't the best smelling person in the world, it being that he lived on the streets and refused to use any of the Sakine's water for bathing. But he also had a sort of natural scent, a scent not of the city, but of some faraway place she had never known. He smelled like a forest or somewhere wild.

She closed her eyes, letting her head fall over his shoulder and onto the soft back of the chair. She knew that this was wrong. She was underage. He wasn't. She shouldn't have felt so attached to him and so trusting of him. What she was doing went against everything people had always taught her, and yet she found that she didn't really care. He wasn't hurting her. He wasn't abusing her. Hell, he was kinder and more caring for her and her safety than any boy she had ever dated. Mikuo was an abusive, violating bastard, but Kaito was a gentle, kind man who didn't do anything Miku didn't want him to. It was the opposite of what society expected, but it was the truth all the same.

_Maybe Sonika's right. Maybe everything is completely screwed._

She felt herself drifting off as his fingers began to slowly feel her neck. She smiled, knowing that he was the only person who had ever made her feel so happy just by touching her. She loved him, and she didn't care what that woman Luka had said. It wasn't that love didn't exist, she thought as she slipped into sub-consciousness. Luka just hadn't found it yet.

When Kaito realized she had fallen asleep, he smiled and lifted her back up, carrying her to her bed. He lifted the blanket, gently placed her down on the soft mattress, and tucked her in under the soft blankets. Feeling almost like a father, he planted a quick kiss on her soft lips and stood over her for a moment, admiring his sleeping beauty. It was only when he heard footsteps that he opened the window and slipped out into the night, darkness his only mask.

…

The next morning, there was a loud knocking on Gakupo's door. He tried to ignore it, covering his ears and shoving his face into his lumpy mattress, but whoever was at the door obviously wanted to come in.

"Go away." He shouted, not caring if he annoyed his neighbors. "I'm sleeping."

"You don't sound like you're sleeping." A familiar voice replied. "Now open the damn door. You know I'm not going anywhere."

Gakupo groaned and rolled out of bed. He turned and looked at his small vanity mirror to see that he looked terrible. His hair was a wild, tangled mess and he wasn't wearing anything other than a pair of old boxer shorts. Moaning, he walked over to the door, hoping to get rid of her soon.

When he opened the door, Meiko was standing with a paper bag in her hand, leaning against the wall while she waited for him. The second she saw him, her eyes assessed him for a second before she smiled, looking satisfied.

"Why are you so smiley?" he asked, annoyed at being woken up so early.

"You're well built, that's all." She said, shrugging. "Can't a woman admire the shape of a man's body?"

"You're a freak, you know that?" he said, turning and walking back into his apartment. She followed him, looking around the small space. "And why are you even here?"

"You haven't been around lately, and I was wondering if you've been getting enough to eat. I brought you some food, if you want it." She set the paper bag on his small counter top by the sink, giving him a friendly smile. He scowled and turned away.

"I'm tired. I hate being woken up early." He walked over to his bed and sat down, his irritation almost tangible. "I don't need any food from you, but I appreciate your concern. If that's it, then can you please get out and leave me to get some sleep." He looked over to his alarm clock and groaned. "It's only six in the morning; you really are a freak."

"What's up with you?" Meiko asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why are you being such a jerk? I didn't do anything to you, you know. You don't need to take out your anger at _her _on me."

"Shut up," he snapped. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"I know exactly what I'm talking about. You're mad at Luka for lying to you, and now you don't have her around to take it out on, so you're attacking me. I'm just trying to help you, Gakupo. I was worried about you so I brought you food and I came to talk to you. You're obviously depressed because you found out who she was and decided to leave her and quit as your job because seeing her like that was just too damn painful. I knew she would rip out your heart from the beginning; girls like her always do. You need to…."

"Shut up! Just shut up you little shit!" he ran at her from across the room and grabbed the front of her shirt. He lifted her up by the shirt and shook her. "You think you know what you're talking about? You have no fucking idea! You weren't there! You were never there! You didn't see what I did, what I was doing to her all that time! I was a danger to her, a danger enough that she couldn't even tell me who she really was because she was afraid of my prejudiced wrath! I'm an overly proud bastard, Meiko. I was scaring her, and I was too blind to see it. She's not just shy, she was terrified of what I might do if I found out! You should've seen her when I saw her; she just started apologizing and panicking like I was going to kill her for having money! That's why I left her, because I was a threat!"

"Gakupo…" Meiko sounded strangled, like she was in great pain and trying not to cry. "You're hurting me."

Gakupo's eyes widened and het set Meiko down, releasing his hold on her shirt. He fell back against the wall, putting his head in his hands.

"I'm out of control." He muttered, kicking himself in the shin. "I'm a fucking monster."

Meiko walked over to him and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. He looked up at her, his face filled with despair.

"You're not a monster." She said firmly, squeezing his arm. "You're one of the most amazing men I have ever met in my life. You're funny, kind, entertaining, strong, protective, amazing…..but you aren't a monster. You are one of the closest friends I have ever had. I….I….I'm just really worried about you. I don't think you're a monster, but I do think you're really upset. You need someone…."

"Meiko, I'm sorry." He said, gently pulling away from her. "But I can't ever have anyone. I'm just going to end up ripping them apart or terrifying them to death. I just need to be alone, okay?" he smiled at her, hoping she would leave. He couldn't be around anyone anymore, he was dangerous.

"Alright." She stepped away and started walking toward the door. She was about halfway out when he called out to her.

"Hey Meiko?"

She turned. "Yeah?"

"Thanks. For the food, I mean."

"You're welcome, you need to save up every bit of money you have now that you're back at the music store."

And with that, Meiko turned and left him alone.

He walked over and fell back into bed, hoping he could go back to sleep. He didn't need to leave for work for another hour. Unfortunately, he was unable to find sleep in the maze of thoughts that had just been put up for him to find his way through. He tossed and turned for about ten minutes before finally giving up, knowing that it was too late to go back to sleep at this point.

His mind had been invaded with fresh thoughts of Luka. He hadn't stopped thinking about her for the past three weeks, but those thoughts had been dulled to a minor murmuring after the first few sleepless nights. Now Meiko had reminded him of everything anew, and the memories were screaming. There she was, fresh in his mind. Following him quietly, her cheeks glowing red with embarrassment like they so often did, Luka's eyes were filled with intelligence and curiosity while she watched him, glancing down at her notebook whenever she needed to write something down. Her soft, porcelain skin surrounding her tiny smile and wide eyes as she batted her gentle, long lashes at him. The softness of her lips as she kissed him was intoxicating, making him want more of her every time. He closed his eyes and imagined her with him, next to him in the bed slowly taking her clothes off. He felt himself craving the idea of her with him, sleeping with him in his bed.

He reached out to help her undress, and he found himself grabbing the first piece of clothing he saw: her black beanie. The second it came off, long pink locks tumbles out, surrounding Luka's beautiful face, which slowly melted into shock and fear.

"I'm sorry." She said, her beautiful eyes filling with tears. He began to panic, having no idea what she was upset about. He tried to reach out to her, hoping to give her some comfort, but she began to melt away before his eyes, her face frozen in its state of pain.

"Luka!" he shouted, reaching out to her as she melted into the sheets, becoming nothing. She stared at him, her face still crying.

"You're doing this to me." She said, sounding pained. "Stop Gakupo, stop hurting me."

"I'm not trying to." He grabbed at nothing, finding himself unable to get a grip on her dissolving form. "I never meant to hurt you! That's why it's better this way."

"It hurts. Please make it stop." She sobbed, her voice choked up with pain. "Please, take pity on me. Make the pain stop."

"Dammit Luka, I don't know what you want me to do! Just stop doing this to me. Stop tormenting me like this!"

"I did nothing to you, but you ripped me apart." She said, almost gone now. "You destroyed me, and what did I do to deserve that?"

The last of her melted away, leaving Gakupo alone. For a moment, he was stunned, unmoving. Then he fell apart.

He woke up screaming her name, his room still mostly dark. Looking around in confusion, he realized he had fallen asleep. Shaking his head, he turned to see the time.

6:58

"Shit," he muttered, climbing out of bed and rushing to get his clothes on. He tried to focus, but he couldn't get the dream out of his mind. It made him feel weak, panicking over a girl like that. He hadn't been like that before, but now he was a complete mess.

What was Luka doing to him?

…

Her eyes were locked on them again. She had no idea what they were, or why Kiyoteru had put them in the closet on a high shelf where she wouldn't mess with it, but it intrigued and scared her at the same time.

Lily knew he would be mad if he saw her looking at it, but she couldn't help it. She wanted to know what that little bastard had brought into their home that was bad enough for him not to explain to her what they were.

She couldn't reach them; Kiyoteru wasn't much taller than her, but he had stood on a chair to get it out of her reach. She had thought about getting a chair, but she knew the noise would let him know that she was trying to look at the large paper bags and what was in them. She was curious, but her fear kept her from doing anything about it.

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist and arms, binding them to her sides. She didn't struggle, knowing who it was. She let her body go limp as he dragged her away from the closet and into the bedroom, where she knew he would lock her for the rest of the day. This was her punishment for trying to see what was in the bags, and it wasn't the first time she was getting it.

He dropped her onto the bed before turning around to leave the room. He was halfway through the doorway when she decided to throw herself on him, wrapping her arms around his waist and clinging to his body.

"Please," she said, tears in her eyes. "Stay."

He turned around and gently removed her from where she was clinging. He smiled at her, stroking her hair. He half carried her away from the door for a few steps before sitting down on the floor with her, caressing her soft cheek. She leaned over and rested her head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart as she felt his hand petting her hair. His body was warm, and his arms were lean yet able to hold her. She could have fallen asleep there, his own little prisoner.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, smiling. He returned the look, his eyes crinkling under his glasses. She straightened up and twisted around in his grasp until she faced him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a small kiss on his nose. As soon as she began to pull away, he grabbed her and forced her close to him, planting his mouth against hers. They held onto each other for a moment before falling onto their sides on the carpet, their mouths still moving together and trying to get as much out of each other as possible.

There was a loud sound, but they ignored it. All that mattered was each other and their embrace. Lily let her eyes fall shut, her mouth seeing for her as she held onto him for dear life. He was all she had, and she needed to keep him from going anywhere.

Suddenly, she felt him rip away from her. She opened her eyes, feeling upset that he'd broken their moment.

What she saw shocked her. Kiyoteru had been pulled off of her by a tall man a dark suit. He was screaming and trying to beat them off, but to no avail as more men dressed similarly grabbed him and pulled him away from her. She screamed, jumping to her feet and running toward them, but the men were faster than her and grabbed one of her arms. The man who had grabbed her used her arm to yank her back sharply, causing her to fall to the ground and let more men grab and secure her.

"KIYOTERU! KIYOTERU HELP ME! THEY GOT ME!" she screamed for help, hoping her lover would come to her rescue.

"LILY!" she heard him shout back. The men might have dragged him out of the room, but he was still in the apartment. "DON'T TOUCH MY LILY!"

"She will be fine, Mr. Hiyama." She heard one of the men say. "Just come with us, we aren't going to hurt you."

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" he screamed, trying to break free of the men who held him captive. Lily continued to scream, hoping it would entice someone to come help. She was being dragged out of the bedroom and through the rest of the apartment. She could see that the men had gotten the screaming Kiyoteru into the hall.

Kicking at the shins of the men, Lily took them by surprise and got them to let go of her. She ran at Kiyoteru, screaming his name and hoping to make it to him. But before she had even taken two steps, more men grabbed and secured her, carrying her out of the apartment and down the hall while their accomplices worked to control Kiyoteru.

"Sir, please calm down or we will be forced to take action." She heard one of them warn.

"Go to hell! Bring her back! Bring Lily back and leave us alone!"

"Kiyoteru!" she shouted one final time before her voice became too hoarse to cry out again. She struggled against the men who held her, but it was useless. There were too many of them and they held her tight. As she struggled, one of them looked down with a sort of pitying look on his face.

"Please relax, miss. It will make everything easier. We're trying to help you and Mr. Hiyama, so could you please cooperate so we can?"

"Where are we going? Who are you?" Lily croaked.

"We're taking the two of you to be examined. Your neighbors have been reporting signs of mental illness in both of you, so they called us to come and take a look at you. It won't take long, and neither of you will be hurt."

"There isn't anything wrong with us! Put me back! I want to see Kiyoteru!"

A loud shout of pain suddenly cut off Kiyoteru's screaming from down the hall. Lily froze for a second before the cry was silenced, which was shen she burst into a violent fit. She writhed in their grasp, twisting and clawing and biting at the men holding onto her.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM? WHAT DID YOU DO TO KIYOTERU?" she scream hoarsely, trying to force her way to freedom. "DAMN YOU ALL! DON'T TOUCH HIM! HE DOESN'T WANT TO DIE, AND I DON'T WANT HIM TO DIE!" She twisted her head around, trying to get a glimpse of him through the men holding onto her. "KIYOTERU!"

"He will be fine, miss." The man from before said, trying to soothe her. "That was just his reaction to our method of sedating him to keep him from injuring any of our men when we take him to be examined. No one is going to die."

"SHUT UP! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" running on pure adrenaline, she twisted her arms free and punched the man she'd been talking to in his face. Unfortunately, she missed his nose and instead hit his forehead, causing her more pain than him. He quickly grabbed her and held her arms to her sides, no longer calm and soothing, but instead enraged and irritated.

"Someone get her! She's too violent!" he shouted, pulling her against his body painfully. Another man pulled out a strange device she wasn't familiar with, and stuck it into her arm. He pressed on something, and immediately Lily felt dizzy and groggy. She tried to focus, but her vision blurred and darkened. The last thing she saw before she completely lost consciousness was a man grabbing her around her waist and tossing her over his shoulder like an old sack. The wind was knocked out of her when she hit his shoulder, and then there was nothing.

* * *

**READ THESE IMPORTANT NOTES**

**Alright, while re reading some of the story, I realized I need to explain a few things.**

**1. Because I live in America, the school year in this story starts in August. I know it's different in a lot of other countries, but that's just how I roll. If you don't remember, it was Miku's first day of school in the begining. At this point in the story, it's around November.**

**2. I fucked up. I meant for the time Miku is supposed to die, the birth of Lily's child, and the end of Gakupo's job to all be around the same time. Obviously the job is no longer relevant, but I still fucked up. In the prologue, I mentioned that Lily was _four months pregnant, _when I intended it to be three. The reason for this was for Miku to die in six months and Luka to go back home in six months. Now because it's a little late to change all that, and the baby has to be born a month before everything else. I'm making plans for it to work, but it won't be as smooth as I originally planned it.**

**3. The information about biting off fingers like carrots that I previously gave you has been confirmed by my science teacher to be false (sadly). Now how am I going to achieve my life's goal of becoming a cannibal? :(**

* * *

**Hey I finally uploaded on a Sunday again! I'm getting somewhere! Let's celebrate by ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS DAMMIT! (Jk I love you)**

**Did anyone see that last part coming? Don't you lie to me you little shits. I CAN SEE YOU WITH MY...WIZARD EYES.**

**ARE YOU ECSTATIC ABOUT THE EARLY UPDATE?**

**How does Gakupo feel about Luka? What is he going to do about it?**

**What are Kaito and Miku planning?**

**Haku and Sonika are finally coming back! (like anyone cares) How will they react to Miku and Kaito's relationship?**

**What the hell is going on with Galaco? Why was she acting the way she did toward Miku?**

**Are you enjoying the story?**

**Do you ever plan to read my future fics? I have about a million ideas in my head right now but I need to finish this one!**

**How do you feel about the length of these chapters?**

**I've been writing this for several hours straight. I'M FREAKING HUNGRY AND TIRED AS FUCK.**

**Okay so that last one wasn't a question...how's your day going so far?**

**Do you want to be my friend?**

**What kind of person do you imagine me to be?**

**GOODBYE MY CHILDREN. I SHALL NOW CELEBRATE WITH SOME FOOD AND SLEEP.**


	17. Chapter 16: Coming Clean, Giving Up

Chapter Sixteen: Coming Clean, Giving Up, Falling Victim to Distractions

"I'll be over in a few minutes." Miku said into the phone as she pulled her boots on. "Tell Haku to get over there."

"Alright, but why do you have to come over?" Sonika's voice asked from the other end of the line. "Not that I don't like seeing you, but what's so important that we can't talk about it over the phone?"

"I'll tell you when I get over there, but I don't want to risk my parents listening in." Miku whispered as she headed out of her room and across the hallway. She wasn't sure if she was ready to tell Haku and Sonika, but there wasn't really much of a choice at this point. They were her best friends, and she needed to be honest with them.

When she reached the bottom floor, she popped her head into the kitchen to see her mother reading a small novel. She looked up at the sound of her daughter's footsteps coming to a halt, and upon seeing her child poking her head into the kitchen, she smiled and spoke.

"Well you're up early. Going somewhere?"

"I'm just going to Sonika's house. Last night you said I need to start getting out more, right?" Miku said, smiling at her mother to hide her nervousness. "I'm just going to head over there and stay until we have to leave for school. Sonika's mom drives her in the mornings, so they might give me a ride."

"Alright, but do you want some breakfast first?" her mother asked. "I made some coffee if you want. It will be done in a minute."

"No, I should really go now." Miku slipped back into the hall and grabbed her coat off of a peg. With a final shout of "Bye mama!" she opened the door and walked out into the cold.

Breaking into a run, Miku started toward Sonika's house, which was about a mile away from hers. Running was never a pleasant thing for Miku in her condition, but doing so always made her feel strong, as if she were fighting her body as it slowly destroyed itself. Her bones may have been in bad shape, but her mind was still powerful.

Most children were pulled out of school once it became clear that they were going to die, but Miku had wanted to stay until she was physically incapable of going. She didn't want to sit home all day and wait around for her body to finally give in to itself and die. She was strong, she just hadn't known how strong until the whole cancer thing had happened.

She had been diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her right humerus four years ago. No one had panicked, but she'd been given radiation therapy and later been put on chemo, and everyone had thought she would be fine after a long year of surgery and pain. Her body hadn't "relapsed", as her doctor liked to call it, even once before that last August. It had seemed that they had conquered her tumor, and everything would be fine. No one had realized that the cancer had spread through her blood to other part of her parts of her body, specifically her other bones. By that point, returning to chemo or anything like that was a pointless effort. She was going to die, and there was no stopping it.

Lost in her thoughts, Miku almost didn't realize it when she reached Sonika's house. She also hadn't realized when her body had gotten tired of running and decided to make her walk. Sighing, she walked over and knocked on the door, knowing that ringing the doorbell would wake Sonika's parents up. Not a minute after she had knocked, the green haired girl opened the door and pulled her into the house, giving her a quick hug before closing the door behind her.

"Hey, can you tell me now?" that was Sonika for you, impatient and straight to the point.

"In a minute," Miku said, looking around nervously. "Is Haku here?"

"She's in the basement," Sonika said, grabbing her friend's arm and dragging her down the staircase that led below the house. Miku had to jog to keep up, and she forced herself not to wince at the pain Sonika was causing her. She didn't want to burden her friend with the awkwardness of being overly gentle.

When they arrived in the basement, Haku was sitting on the couch, absorbed in a small, handheld game. She looked up when her friends entered and put away the game, tucking it into her sweater pocket.

"Well?" Sonika demanded, placing her hands on her hips. "Tell us already! What's so important?"

"Is it about Mikuo? Or you cancer?" Haku asked nervously, getting up from her place on the couch.

"Always the optimist" Miku joked nervously. "No. It's just….remember that guy I helped on the street a couple months ago?"

"Yeah?" Sonika said, her tone implying that she wanted Miku to get on with it.

"Well…..we're kind of….together."

Her friends were silent for a moment. Miku held her breath as she awaited their reactions. Haku's eyebrows were raised and her mouth slightly opened, but other than that she didn't look very surprised. Sonika looked as if she were thinking over the information she had just been given, wondering how she should react to it.

After a minute, Sonika finally spoke up.

"Is that it?" she asked.

Miku nodded, hoping her friend wasn't about to freak out.

"Is he nice?" Haku asked, trying to join in the conversation.

"Yeah, he's really sweet." Miku said quietly, blushing at the thought of Kaito's compliments and kisses all around her neck the previous night.

"How are you seeing him?" Sonika asked curiously. "Your mom says you haven't been out a lot lately."

"He comes into my room through the window when no one can see." Miku explained. "He climbs up the side of the house."

"Sounds like a fairy tale." Haku said dreamily, drawing a laugh from her two green haired friends. She blushed, but didn't take back what she had said.

"So you guys aren't….you know…..going to tell anyone?"

"Why would we?" Sonika asked, falling backward onto the couch. "We've been keeping your secrets for years! What's one more?"

"Thanks guys," Miku sighed with relief. "I don't know why I was so worried."

"We'll always have your back." Haku said, coming to stand by Miku and clap her on the back. "I swear."

"There's something else." Miku said, dread creeping back up when she remembered that she wasn't finished. "I wanted to go somewhere with him, but I had to tell my mom I was going shopping with you guys…"

"So you want us to cover for you while you're out with him." Sonika finished, giving Miku a knowing look.

"Yeah," she mumbled quietly.

"Sure." The green haired girl replied with a shrug. "Why not? But let me ask you something, Miku. Do you really like him?"

Miku didn't even hesitate. "I love him."

Sonika nodded, not doubting her friend's judgment. She trusted her, and she knew she was smarter than her when it came to making decisions. If she thought staying with this man was a good idea, then so be it.

"I'm underage, so we can't get caught." Miku explained, absently playing with her own hair. "I was hoping that you guys would try and help in case someone comes close to finding out."

"When are you two going out?" Haku asked.

"I'm meeting him after school. We're going somewhere across town."

"Alright, we can figure something out to help." Sonika said with a nod. She watched Miku and Haku as they came over and sat down next to her on the couch. After a moment's thought, she turned to Miku. "Hey Miku?"

"Yeah?"

"What's it like, being in love?"

Miku was surprised by the question. Sonika wasn't the kind of girl to ask things like that, especially not when it came to love. Sonika was a political activist, not someone's Juliet or Cinderella. Miku had never thought she wanted something like love, especially if it got in the way of her opinions and devotion to turning the world from the corrupt hellhole it was into something better. She wasn't a feminist, and she honestly found most women who claimed to be actually very ridiculous. She was against large corporations and their immeasurable greed, but did that really mean that was all of her life? She'd never had a boyfriend before, but Miku and Haku had always thought it was because she didn't want one. Now that she was asking about it, both of them were starting to think differently about her.

Miku smiled before answering. "It's perfect."

…

"Hey Kamui!" a loud voice called from behind him, causing him to freeze in the doorway.

"Crap," he muttered, turning to face the ridiculously fat building owner. "Did you want something?"

"Your rent is due soon, and I'm hoping you will be able to pay up after losing your job." The man smirked at him. "Very unfortunate for you, Kamui, but that cannot be helped at the moment. Rent is still rent, and you are going to have to pay up next week or move back out on the streets."

"I have a job, sir." Gakupo said, trying his best not to rip the man's head off. Not only was he irritating him the way he always had, but now that he was mocking his loss of Luka, it made everything a million times worse. "I'm working back at the music store, and I still have money from the other job. I will be able to pay my rent, but thanks for the concern."

"Alright, now don't you have a job to go to?" the owner waved him away before turning and waddling back to yell at more people.

"I was just leaving." Gakupo muttered as he stepped outside, where he was greeted by a wave of cold. Shivering, he turned and started back in the usual direction he was so familiar with, forcing himself not to think of the dream, of Luka slowly melting away from him as she cried that he was hurting her. He tried to shove the thoughts of her stunning blue eyes turning red with the effort of crying and her soft, pale skin soaking in her streams of tears as she whispered to him about how much pain she was in.

Blowing sharply through his teeth, Gakupo grabbed his head by each side and shook it, trying to think of something else. The thoughts of Luka were torturous, and he needed to get them out of his mind.

"Gakupo?"

Gakupo turned, realizing he had almost walked past the music store. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't realized just how far he'd walked. One of his coworkers, a tall wiry girl with red hair named Miki, was poking her head through the front door and looking at him. He sighed, internally telling himself to get a grip, and went inside.

A few people looked up when he walked in, but everyone went right back to what they were doing the second they realized it was him. They had noticed Gakupo's irritability lately, and none of them wanted to get on his bad side. He knew he had issues to resolve, but he wasn't sure how to go about them. All he could do was stay away from Luka to keep from hurting her.

He got to work organizing a box of CDs in a corner of the store. Familiar bands, singers, and songs floated in and out of his vision as he worked mechanically, his mind elsewhere.

"Gakupo! Hey! Earth to Gakupo Kamui!"

"Hmm?" he turned around to see Galaco standing behind him, poking his shoulder. How long had she been standing there? "What do you want?"

"I need to get into that box you've got." Galaco said, shoving him lightly to the side, an indication that he should move. He obeyed her with a sigh, knowing he should have been paying better attention. He had absolutely no focus, but why? Why were his random thoughts of Luka so much more dominant than they had been before?

…

Waking up was never fun, but waking up to violently bright lights and the insanely annoying sound of whirring machinery was almost painful. Lily squinted, trying to adjust to the brightness of the room. She could feel that she was laying on some uncomfortable bed, and the room was freezing.

She tried to speak, but her throat was dry beyond measure. Still blind, she raised a hand to feel around her, and hit something warm and soft. Panicking, she pulled back quickly with a small shriek. She heard someone laugh as she finally forced her eyes to open and look around.

There was a tall man in a lab coat bending over her; she guessed that she had touched his cheek. He gave her a friendly smile, but she really didn't focus on it for long. She craned her neck and looked around the room.

Where was she? Had something happened with her baby that was bad enough for Kiyoteru to take her to the hospital? She looked around the room. _Wait a second…_

Where was Kiyoteru?

"It's nice to see you awake, Miss." The man in the lab coat said, straightening up. He had long white hair that fell into his eyes. "My name is Dr. Yowane, and I'm going to be helping to take care of your for a little while. Can you tell me your name?"

Lily stared at the man for a moment before continuing to look around the room. He wasn't sitting in any of the chairs. He wasn't waiting for her in the corner, leaning against the wall as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Maybe he was waiting for her out in the hall, staying where he couldn't get in the way of the doctors. Yes, that was probably it.

"Where is Kiyoteru? When can I see him?" she asked, unsurprised by how hoarse her voice was.

The smile vanished from Dr. Yowane's face, leaving an uncomfortable, nervous residue behind. Lily immediately began to panic; what had happened to him?

"What happened? Is he okay?" she demanded, grabbing the doctor by his shirt collar and shaking him. She stared into his deep red eyes, which refused to meet hers and instead stared down at the white tiled floor.

"Mr. Hiyama is fine. Don't worry about him, okay? We need to do a few tests…"

"Is it for my baby?"

The doctor looked startled, as if he weren't prepared for a question like that. Lily stared at him, still clutching his coat, prepared to jerk him around again.

"No, your baby is just fine." He said, taking Lily's hands and slowly removing them from his shirt. "We need to do a few different kinds of tests."

"What kinds of tests? What are you going to do to me? Is there something wrong with me?"

"No! No! There is nothing wrong with you, trust me." He gave her a reassuring smile. "You are perfectly fine."

"Then I don't want to take your tests." Lily said stubbornly. "Why should I, if there's nothing wrong with me? Where's Kiyoteru? I want to see him!"

"Kiyoteru is taking his own tests." The doctor said, placing a hand on Lily's shoulder. She swatted it away, feeling shivers of repulsion rushing though her. Men were not allowed to touch her like that. Kiyoteru hadn't even touched her more than holding her hands and giving her friendly hugs until she had kissed him, and he didn't even really touch her even then. She didn't want men touching her.

"Don't touch me." She hissed at him, sitting up and hugging her knees to her chest. "I hate men touching me."

"I apologize." Dr. Yowane said, sounding sincere. He reached out as if to touch her again, put thought better of it and pulled back. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Men aren't allowed to touch me." Lily mumbled, curling her face into her knees. "Not allowed to touch me, not even Kiyoteru,"

"Please, we just want to help you. But in order to do that, I need you to help me. Can you do that for me? I just want you to answer a few questions."

Lily looked up, feeling tears welling up behind her eyes. She gave a blunt nod and curled back up.

"Good. First off, can you tell me your name? Full name would be appreciated."

She was silent for a moment, wondering if she should respond. Dr. Yowane sighed.

"Come on now, you can trust…."

"Saber Lily." She said, her voice monotone.

"Good, good girl!" the doctor said, pulling out a clipboard and a pen. He started to write something that Lily couldn't understand, causing her to squint in suspicion. He didn't appear to notice, and went on. "Now Lily, how long have you been staying with Mr. Hiyama?"

"A couple months." She said with a shrug, never letting her gaze drop from his overly friendly face. She didn't trust him, but who would trust someone like that?

"Thank you. Now can you tell me why you've been staying with him?"

"He's my boyfriend. I've been living with him because I have nowhere else to go." She didn't dare say anything more. The stunningly painful memory of the day she had been released from jail returned, turning her complexion green and making her feel nauseous. She couldn't let that happen again.

"How long have you two been together?"

Lily thought about that one for a moment. "I don't remember exactly, not that long."

"I see." His brow furrowed, showing deep concentration and thought. "Thank you, Lily. Tell me, where is your family? Or do you have none?"

"My parents ditched me when I was sixteen. I've been alone even since."

"Did you have a job?"

Lily flinched. It was the very question she'd been dreading, the one that had brought her nothing but shame so far. She hadn't just been a prostitute, but she'd been working in an illegal, underground agency. Her body had been for sale on the black market; who the hell would want to go around flaunting that?

"No," Lily said, trying to sound sincere. "I was homeless and lived off of dumpster diving and pickpocketing." It wasn't a complete lie, it being that she had lived like that before being taken in as a prostitute.

Dr. Yowane looked at her for a moment, as if he was wondering whether to believe her or not. He eventually gave a slow nod and continued writing on the clipboard. She stared at him, hard, waiting for him to be finished writing.

Finally she couldn't wait anymore.

"When can I see Kiyoteru?"

He looked up at her with an expression that was almost…..pitiful. There seemed to be something he wasn't telling her.

Unraveling from her little ball, Lily stood and stepped toward the doctor. She was at least a head taller than him, giving her the advantage of intimidation. She glared down at him, her hands balled into fists as she stepped closer and closer to him.

"When can I see him?" she was on the verge of tears, but he used that emotion to fuel her menacing tone as she grabbed the man's coat and pulled him close to her face.

"Lily…..Lily calm down…." He said, trying to unclench her hands from his shirt, but it was useless. She wasn't about to let go. "Please…..Mr. Hiyama is in special care at the moment. They are asking him similar questions to the ones I asked you just now. Now, why don't we just sit down….."

"It was you!" she lifted him by the front of his coat and swung him against the wall. Everything was coming back to her in a sudden flash. "You were part of those people who took us from the apartment! You kidnapped us!"

She pulled him forward until their noses almost touched before slamming him against the wall again, then repeated. Then she repeated it again and again, quickly accelerating until Dr. Yowane was shouting and calling for help. He was a very pathetic man, and easy to hurt. Once she had smashed him against the wall enough times, Lily released him, letting him fall to the floor. She ran out through a door in the corner, which she found to be unlocked. She ran out into a sterile white hallway with a few people milling around. A few stared at her as she began to look around franticly, wondering where they could have been keeping Kiyoteru.

Choosing a direction randomly, Lily sprinted down the hall, yanking on random doors to see if they'd open. None of them yielded to her. She began to panic, sprinting around randomly as she waited for them to show up and grab her, taking her back into that room with the strange doctor who she didn't know. She stopped her frantic search for a moment to listen for footsteps, but none were to be heard.

But something else was. Someone was screaming her name from the other side of the wall. Not just someone, _Kiyoteru. _He was there, on the other side of the door just to her left.

Lily leaped to the side, yanking on the handle of the locked door. His voice was growing more and more strained from the other side, making Lily's blood run cold.

"Kiyoteru! I'm here, I found you!" she sobbed, pounding on the door as if it might break under her touch. Her love was strong enough to drive her to insanity, so who could expect her to remember the strength of a six inch thick metal door?

"LILY? LILY!" he screamed, his voice quickly going from questioning to urgent. "MY LILY! LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARD! I need to see her! Let me see her!"

He was sobbing now, Lily could hear it clearly. Beating on the door with her tiny fist, she was oblivious to the footsteps coming up behind her.

"Kiyoteru!" she cried, sinking to her knees in defeat. "Kiyoteru please!"

"Let me see her! I need to see my Lily!" his anger had raised to an immeasurable point. She had never heard him so mad before. "Can't you hear her? She's scared! She needs me! Let me go!"

There was a series of thumps and the sound of glass breaking. Several men could be heard shouting inside the room, including Kiyoteru. He was shouting and sobbing like a dying animal, scaring Lily even more. She wasn't sure if she was scared _of _him or scared _for _him, but either way she desperately wanted to see him.

Out of nowhere, a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, trapping her in an iron embrace. Lily screamed, kicking and sobbing as she was lifted off the ground. Soon a second person came around in front of her and grabbed her legs, securing them so she wasn't able to kick anymore. Soon the two people who had grabbed her were joined by more, who formed a sort of wall around them. She supposed it was to catch her, should she escape that is.

"Lily? LILY!" his voice became more and more faint as she was carried away from him, back down the hallway toward the room with the questioning, annoying doctor with the large hands and red eyes.

"PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN I NEED TO SEE HIM!" she hollered, trying to break free of the strange men's steel grip. "Just let me see him once, please."

"I'm afraid we can't do that." One of the men walking beside her said. "You see, neither of you are in stable conditions. We need to run a few tests before either of you are permitted regular human interaction. I'm sorry, but it is what is necessary for your health."

"I'm going to die! I'm going to die!" she screamed, trying to break free. "You're going to kill me aren't you! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

"No one is going to die." The man who had grabbed her from behind said sternly, holding her arms to her sides. "You will be fine."

"I can't live without him!" Lily wailed, struggling against the men walking her down the hallway. "I'm going to die without him! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!"

"Someone get her to shut up!" the man holding her legs yelled, turning to his comrades. "She isn't going to listen to reason, so shut her up!"

"I'm on it." A tall, pink haired woman said, stepping over to stand near Lily. Her captors had stopped walking in the presence of this woman, letting Lily know that she was someone to be respected.

Like she cared, all she wanted was to escape and get back to Kiyoteru. She wanted him to hold her and stroke her hair and kiss her and tell her everything was alright. With a bitter laugh, she realized that she felt the exact same way she had after her parents had abandoned her out of poverty and selfishness, leaving her to die in the city streets.

Kiyoteru hadn't done anything like that; he'd fought for her until the very end. He loved her in a way neither of her parents ever had, and that was all she needed to know.

Suddenly, she stopped struggling. Letting her body go limp, she watched as the pink haired woman above her raised an eyebrow, confused by Lily's sudden change in behavior.

"What just happened, Dr. Kasane?" one of the men asked, peering at Lily as if she were pulling some sort of trick. "She just….stopped struggling."

"I'm not exactly sure." She said, bending over so that her face was uncomfortably close to Lily's. Lily stared back at her, an almost bored expression on her face that was only distorted by the tear stains and puffy, red eyes. Dr. Kasane furrowed her brow, trying to figure out what Lily was up to.

"I'm giving up."

The sudden guest appearance of Lily's voice surprised everyone, including herself. But she knew it was true. There was no hope left for her or Kiyoteru, and the best she could do was stop hurting herself farther by fighting the crazy doctors. The two of them had fought hard and well until the very end, but their efforts didn't matter in the slightest when they could be easily overcome and subdued.

They had lost.

* * *

**WHAT'S UP PEASANTS? GUESS WHO IS BACK AND FUCKING UPDATING ON TIME!**

**Sorry for the boring chapter, but some boring stuff has to happen sometimes or I'm going to give you all heart attacks like I did in my first story!**

**BTW, I recently started working on a new story! The first chapter is posted, so you can go onto my profile if you want to read it! It's called "Neon Demons in Our Monochrome World" and is my first gay story. Read if you want to, it doesn't have many views yet.**

* * *

**Enough with the boring bullshit, let's get to the questions!**

**Am I pissing you off with my lack of Luka in these chapters?**

**Dr. Yowane...guess who this relates to? (it should be obvious...)**

**Teto (Dr. Kasane) is finally in the story. How do you feel about this?**

**Do you want to read my new story? It's okay if you don't!**

**Is this story becoming boring?**

**Is English your first language? Some of you I can tell it isn't from your reviews.**

**Why has Lily given up?**

**Someone on tumblr called me their senpai and freaked out when I followed them back! Should I feel as awesome about that as I do?**

**Does anyone else here ever get bored and decide to play with Cleverbot?**

**Was this chapter too short? It's definitely much shorter than any of the others.**

**I didn't have a book to read after my Science test, so naturally I started writing a gay fanfic in class. Has anyone else ever done this?**

**What is happening to Gakupo?**

**WHERE THE FUCK IS LUKA DURING ALL OF THIS?**


	18. Chapter 17: Dating and Drinking

Chapter Seventeen: In a World of Dating and Getting Wasted

"I'm going to regret this." Miku moaned, lolling her head back as she climbed off the bus. Sonika and Haku followed behind, making sure she didn't panic and turn back.

"No you're not." Sonika said, urging her friend forward. "You're going to go out there and finally act like a normal person around Kaito. You haven't even seen him outside of your room or that café."

"Except for that time where he helped save my life." She reminded her friend, turning to watch the bus pull away. A sick feeling twisted in her stomach; there was no turning back now.

"You weren't_ together_ then!" Haku reminded her. Miku sighed, remembering how she had explained the entire story of what had happened with her and Kaito before leaving Sonika's basement for school. She hadn't been sure about it at first, but now she was becoming really frustrated that the girls were using her information against her, only in a different way than expected.

"Whatever, I still think this is a bad idea. May I remind you that I've been beaten, knocked unconscious, and almost raped twice in the past couple months?"

"And who was with you then?" Sonika raised an eyebrow. Miku realized that she was right. Both attacks from Dell had been while she was out with Mikuo, someone Dell obviously was not friendly with. Could there be a reason that she was only attacked while around Mikuo? Or was it all a big coincidence?

"Come on!" Miku flinched back to her friends as Sonika grabbed her arm and started pulling her down the sidewalk. Miku winced inwardly and followed, refusing to let herself reveal to her friend that she was causing her pain. She was strong, and she could handle her friend's normal movements. She didn't need her friends to coddle her for her illness, and she knew they would be happier if their situation was as close to normal as possible. Miku wanted Sonika and Haku to feel as if nothing had changed, so they could have as much good time together as they had left.

"Where did he say to go?" Haku asked, clueless about their destination.

"He wanted to meet me by…." She thought for a moment, still holding on to the last syllable. "…Akoi." She finished once she'd remembered.

"Is that the street name?" Sonika was new to this part of the city, it being that she had never had any reason for going there. She was a simple girl with practical reasons.

"Yeah, I think so." Miku said, squinting as if it would sharpen her cloudy memory. Kaito had given her details, but she had been so tired, and he had felt so nice when he kissed her neck and let her fall asleep in his arms….

Miku shook her head. No, this wasn't a time to let Kaito become a distraction. She loved him, but she couldn't let him get in the way of her thought process, especially considering that she was trying to think so she could see him.

The girls wandered for about twenty minutes before finally finding the right street. Of course, that was only half the battle, and they ended up walking up and down the street for another half hour before they finally found him.

"There!" Haku reached out a slender arm and pointed toward where a tall blue haired man was standing, searching through a bag for something. Miku squinted at the man, not recognizing anything. This man had clean, wet hair that had been slicked back with the power of water and fresh, clean clothes. His skin appeared to be free of dirt or grime, and there was sort of a pale glow to it.

"That can't be Kaito." Miku shook her head, knowing Haku must be mistaken. After all, she'd only seen the man once, hadn't she? "He looks too…._clean._"

"No, that has to be him." Sonika agreed with the albino, who's cheeks were reddening as they were heated by the incorrectness of her statement.

"It can't be…." Miku cut herself off as she came closer to the man and into his field of vision. He smiled and approached, ceasing his search through the bag and striding confidently over to where she stood. She frowned, gears turning in her head as she tried to understand the situation. He seemed to notice her troubled expression and stopped in his tracks, turning and suddenly gaining interest in a random coffee shop. Miku suddenly realized her folly and walked up to the man, placing a hand on his shoulder.

She was showered with a small shower of water as he whipped around, his hair flicking water all over her. She smiled and wiped it away, but he had grabbed her before she could even get her hands away from her face, pulling her into his arms as if he hadn't seen her in decades.

"Hello," he said quietly, stroking her hair. "Is there something wrong? You were looking at me weird."

"Oh, no nothing's wrong." Miku insisted, wiggling her arms out of the embrace before sliding them comfortably around Kaito's neck. "You just look so…different."

He laughed, pulling back and draping his arm over her neck. He slid around until he was next to her, turning to look at where Sonika and Haku were still standing, silently watching the scene in front of them unfold. Kaito smiled at them before turning back to Miku.

"Meiko forced me to clean up. She said if I finally had the balls to go out in public with you, I might as well not look homeless. She even bought me some clothes with her extra money, which I argued with her about for several minutes." He looked down at his clothing, assessing it for the millionth time. "I guess you can tell who won that argument."

"It's Meiko, you can't argue with her." Miku giggled, reaching up to touch his newly washed hair. "She's the champion."

"She is a girl of many talents." Kaito laughed, sounding new and refreshed. "But I have to admit, I do like the feeling of finally being clean for once. I've lived on the street for too long now, and it's nice to finally have a home."

"Meiko and her dad sure are nice to give you a place to stay." Miku observed, messing his hair with a smile. "They're almost like your family."

"I wasn't talking about the café, Miku." He bent and kissed her forehead, caressing her smooth cheek. "I was talking about _you. _If home is a place you love and feel loved, then I don't think there's anything else I can call it. You're my home Miku, it just took a little while to find you."

He smiled at her, and she realized just how different he looked from when they met. When she had found him, he was soaking wet, unconscious, starving, grimy, and dressed in rags. His cheeks had been hollow and his eyes cold and filmy with the closeness of death. She remembered how thin and frail he had felt when she and that other man had lifted him and carried him into the café, where Meiko and her father had luckily been waiting to help him.

But now he was anything but that. His once grimy hair was thick with health and a deep, rich shade of blue. Even if he hadn't been washing it, it hadn't been under the abuse it had once been. He had gained some weight and structure with Meiko feeding him her hearty meals, and the clothes she had bought him suited him, clean but just plain enough to blend in. The sea of tears she had seen hidden in his irises had evaporated and was now raining down anew as happiness and love, swirling with a gentle breeze of compassion. Miku thought it had all been the café owner and his short haired daughter, but now she saw it was more than that. It was _her._

"So," he turned back to look at Haku and Sonika, who seemed so engrossed in their friend's conversation that they didn't even feel ignored. "I haven't seen you two in a while."

"Last time I saw you, you were being a bit of a jerk." Sonika commented, earning her a frown from Miku.

Kaito only laughed lightheartedly. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was going through some deep shit, you know?"

"I know." Sonika said with a nod. Kaito nodded back, the two of them never breaking eye contact. Something seemed to pass through their connected gazes, some sort of understanding and acceptation. It was almost like they were communicating in a way that Miku couldn't understand, but Haku seemed to. It was like a language people could only learn when they'd been rejected from society as an outcast, whether it be for their ideals, class, or appearance. Miku watched them as a researcher might watch a rare ritual within an endangered species, her eyes floating from Sonika to Kaito and occasionally over to Haku, watching to see if she could understand what flowed between them.

The look only lasted a few seconds, but to Miku it seemed like a millennium before she finally felt Kaito's warm breath in her ear.

"You okay?"

Miku didn't even have to think.

"I'm great. I was just afraid that they would react differently once they actually met you."

Kaito grinned and have Miku a tight hug before turning back to the green and white haired girls.

"So, we'll meet you back here in a few hours?" he suggested with a shrug, showing that he didn't care much about details.

Ever punctual Sonika, however, did.

"You can have three hours, then you have to give her back." Her words implied a joke, but her face was straight and her tone even. But not even that could hide the smile in her eyes.

"I'm not making any promises," he said, grabbing Miku around her waist from the side and pulling her into him. "I've taken a bit of a liking to her."

"You're hilarious." Miku said, rolling her eyes playfully at the two of them. "But we should probably get going….wherever it is you're taking me."

"Alright," Haku said with a nod, a wish for good luck hidden in the smile she handed Miku. "We'll be at the arcade a couple blocks away, call me if you need anything, okay Miku?"

"Alright, thanks." Miku said, grinning in return to her friend's gift. "Kick Sonika's ass for me, will you? She always wins."

"You're a little bitch, Hatsune." Sonika joked, feigning offence for a millisecond before bursting into laughter. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"See you guys." Miku waved as her friends turned and headed down the sidewalk, leaving her alone with Kaito.

"Your friends are nice." He commented, still watching as the two teenagers disappeared around a corner. "They definitely have a sense of humor."

"There's no one out there like Haku and Sonika." Miku agreed, leaning into Kaito's lean body. He sighed and played with one of her pigtails absently, smiling as he felt it's silkiness. She noticed him spacing out and reached up to play with his hair again. "So, what's the plan?"

He grinned down at her idiotically, obviously still not minding the height difference that came with the small age gap between them. She smiled, thinking his stupid look just made him look even more adorable, despite him being older than her.

"It's a surprise," he informed her, his smile unfaltering. "I'll show you."

…

It was disgusting, painful, and just downright wrong, but Luka couldn't stop herself. It was the only thing that was making the pain go away, and had been since she'd first discovered how helpful it could be. It took everything out of focus, making all her problems insignificant and allowing her to live for the moment she was in, forgetting that man and his cruelty for leaving her in the manor he did….

Alcohol

Luka had her hair hanging loose in a manor she hadn't used in months, but she really didn't care about it. It was a miracle she could even get herself out of bed in the morning, and an even bigger miracle that she was still in the city. She hadn't been able to hold herself together for the longest time, lying in bed for days without eating and only getting up to use the bathroom. She couldn't bring herself to work, and all of her research only reminded her of the stupid man with his ridiculous long purple hair….

She lifted her glass, draining the last of it with sort of drunken vigor. She slammed the cup back down on the counter and looked over to the bartender, a blaze of fury in her eyes. There was something about drinking that turned Luka from mellow and quiet to angry and passionate in a matter of a few minutes.

"You should watch yourself."

Luka turned, ready to glare at whoever had spoken. Her target turned out to be a tall, broad man with his hair slicked back like a 50s greaser. He was watching her with mild interest, the way she remembered herself half watching sporting events with her family, like she didn't particularly catch his eye, but there wasn't anything better to look at in the room.

"What?" she snapped, watching the man warily.

He didn't seem taken aback or even amused by her attitude. He just stood there, leaning up against the wall with his eyes closed.

"I said you should watch yourself." He said, sounding bored. "That stuff is trouble. It'll knock you straight out if you drink too much, making you an easy target for any guy in here."

"Does that include yourself?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

The man laughed, not moving from his spot against the wall.

"I wasn't planning on raping anyone, but you can think what you want." He looked up at her for the first time, examining her face with deep brown eyes. "So what are you doing in a shady place like this? There are other bars uptown."

"It's none of your business." She said, scowling at him. "What are _you _doing down here?"

"Me? Eh, I'm in some trouble with the law. I'm trying to keep a low profile." A shadow fell over his face as he turned to look at the floor. "But _someone _doesn't know how to do that."

"Who?" Luka asked, resting her elbow on the bar counter.

The man looked back up at her, as if only slightly surprised that she had heard him. After a moment, he sighed and let his head fall back, turning to the ceiling.

"A friend, or I guess he's not exactly a friend. It's more like I'm looking after him for someone, someone I made a promise to. I don't particularly like the kid, but I'm not one to break a promise, especially with this lady."

"Does this lady have a name?" Luka inquired, squinting at the man.

He turned to look at her again, his eyes sad.

"She had one."

Luka frowned, waiting for him to continue. After a long, deep sigh, he did.

"Her name was Ia. She was probably the kindest woman I've ever met, but also the most terrifying. She was always so happy and pleasant around people, especially children. That lady loved kids more than anything in the world. She had a son who was the kind of kid who dumped salt on slugs and stomped on snails, but she loved him anyway. The only time she ever lost her temper was if someone threatened him or any other kid, which I guess was what you could call the death of her.

"Her husband, sadly, was the complete opposite. He was an angry, violent man who didn't care for his wife or son. All he really wanted from life was money, sex, and more money. He beat his wife and the kid more than anything else I saw him do, whether he had a reason or not. Actually, I'm pretty sure his kid still has the scars from it. But for some reason, they never left him. They even defended him when someone tried to accuse him of abuse!" the man laughed bitterly, running a hand through his dark hair. "But the bastard never even stopped to appreciate what Ia was doing for him and his sadist of a son.

"When her son was only seven, Ia caught something. I don't know the word for it, but she was coughing up blood and couldn't even get out of bed. It was terrible, and she was constantly in pain. There was obviously going to be no end to it, and neither of her family members even cared. The only people who ever came to visit or help her were the children she had been so nice to. I remember it really well, even though it happened over ten years ago. Even as she died, she talked to and comforted the kids, trying to convince them that nothing was wrong. I think it made her feel better to know that she was helping someone as she died.

"The day she was found dead in her room, I was the last person to speak to her. When I did, I promised that I would look after and help her son, no matter what. She just smiled at me and said 'If that's what you want to do, then go for it. Just remember hoe stubborn he is. Stick with him no matter what, okay?' And I promised that I would never leave the kid, and I would do whatever he wanted to. I remember her smiling one last time before she died, which was when I completely lost it. I was only ten at the time."

Luka was silent. She stared at the man for a moment, thinking she saw some sort of mist in his eyes. She hadn't had very much to drink, so she had still been able to listen and take in everything the man said. He looked upset, but she didn't know how to respond. She'd only just met him, after all.

After a minute, he finally spoke again.

"So that's who she was. Any more questions?"

"I have one, but it isn't about Ia."

"Go on…" he hung onto the last syllable, stretching it out for too long.

"I've been talking to you for the past few minutes, but I don't know your name."

The man smiled, looking over to Luka.

"They call me Al." he said, his eyes empty.

…

"I can't believe you."

"What? You don't like it?"

"No, it's just….how did you get it?"

Kaito smiled, loving the shocked and confused combination of emotions brewing on the little turquoise haired girl's face.

"Once I was living just outside of a small, family owned bakery. I don't exactly know what happened, but I overheard some argument between a girl and a boy, which eventually led to a girl storming out and seeing me. She yelled and threw this at me, and I've been looking for a home for it ever since. It would've been a shame to let something so pretty go to waste, wouldn't it?"

"I suppose." Miku looked down at the necklace again, fingering the silver charm. It was a beautiful little circular plate, embedded with tiny blue gems. The charm was no bigger than her thumbnail, and the chain only let it fall to the collar of the school uniform she still wore. "It's beautiful, but I still can't believe you gave this to me."

"If you don't want it…."

"No, no! I love it, but do you really think I should be the one to take something so nice? You should sell it and get yourself some money, not give it to me. Besides, I'm not exactly going to be the best home for it…."

"Oh, stop that." He said, grabbing her hand and pulling her down onto the bench. It was one of those strange little benches that just sit on the sides of the street for no reason other than public convenience, yet they displayed so much. It was a small thing, but in a way, it showed that there were still nice people out in the world.

"Kaito…" Miku said, her eyes connecting with his in a beam of seriousness. She reached out, grabbing his upper arm and giving it a small squeeze. "Are you sure?"

He smiled at her, and answered her question with a gentile kiss on her nose. She gave a small laugh before freeing her hands to hook the necklace around her throat. It glinted beautifully when the sun's rays found it, each tiny gem sparkling like its own matrix of patterns.

"The necklace is amazing, but the face above it is too close to perfect for there to even be any comparison between them. It's the second most beautiful thing I have even seen."

"Second?" Miku didn't sound disappointed, only curious.

"The first being your heart," he whispered. "It is definitely the most stunning, beautiful thing I have even seen. I'm just glad that you decided to show it to me in the first place."

She smiled. "That would explain why you've become so much more appealing as the months have gone by. You haven't just seen my heart, you're a part of it now, and you will be until it stops beating."

"Even if your heart is silent, mine will never let go of it." His voice sounded strained, as if he were trying not to cry. Upon hearing this, Miku wrapped her weak arms around his neck and pulled her face into his chest, turning herself into an object of comfort for him. He took advantage of her gesture, taking her into his lean muscled arms and touching his lips to her hairline.

"You don't need to hold onto my heart when I'm gone." Miku said, wondering if her voice was too muffled by his chest for him to hear, but she continued her statement nonetheless. "You should let it go, find someone else. You might think it's impossible now, and you'll probably still think so when I die, but believe me you will be able to move on. I know you love me; I love you too, but that doesn't mean you can't let me go once it's impossible to love me anymore."

She felt his arms suddenly tighten around her, their purpose morphing from holding her to constricting her to the point where she couldn't escape.

"No, I won't just let go of you so easily. I will fight for every memory, every feeling, every moment we shared together from the moment you saved my life, even though I wasn't awake for that. I will think about you every day of my life, no matter how much it hurts me to do so. I will go on and live my life, maybe even find someone, but I will never forget you. Even if I won't be really happy, I will be happier than I would trying to forget you."

In the long silence that followed, Miku raised her face from Kaito's chest to look at the man. His hair had dried and was fluttering around his head in the breeze, making him look like some sort of elfish creature from a fairytale. It was almost like he had a sort of magic air about him, which was dampened by his tears that had never been cried.

"I'm sorry, Kaito." She whispered, laying her head on his chest. "I'm hurting you so much, aren't I?"

"This isn't your fault." He assured her, playing with her hair. "None of it is."

"It is! I knew this was going to happen! I knew I was going to die, but I still kept coming to see you like the selfish bitch I am. I wanted to see you and talk to you and be with you, but I still had this disease where my body was killing itself. I got close to you only to rip myself away again, and there's nothing I can do at this point without hurting you."

"Why are you worried about me when you're the one dying?"

"Because I won't have to live with the consequences of my own death."

Kaito slackened his grip, letting Miku wiggle free and sit conformably next to him. She looked at him, watching him stare down at the pavement with his fists clenched for several minutes. She stood and took a few steps away from him, trying to give the man some space. He looked up at her, his expression distressed.

"Miku, this needs to stop." He almost sounded angry.

"What, exactly?" she was afraid, wondering what exactly was going through his head. It seemed like everything she said made him feel worse.

"You need to stop talking about your inevitable death like it's no problem for you, but the end of the world for everyone else. It just…..it makes me so….so mad to see you acting so ready to die, but only living now for the rest of us."

Miku was taken aback "I'm sorry….."

"No! No you shouldn't be sorry! See, you're doing it again!" He stood with her and stepped until he was only inches away from her. He grabbed her shoulders firmly, causing her to cringe away from him, awaiting the pain she was so used to in this situation. After a moment of nothing, she slowly opened her eyes and turned back to him to see a shocked, guilty face. "I'm sorry…..I didn't mean to hurt you…."

"Kaito….." she whispered, moving in to hug him. He stepped back, looking afraid.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have….." He trailed off, turning to face away from her. She reached to grab his shoulder, but he had already started walking. Unsure of what to do, she followed behind, jogging slightly to keep up with his quick stride.

She felt terrible. This day was supposed to be for them to spend some time together outside of Miku's room, but she had gone and made it into this. And to top it all off, she'd made him think he'd lost control and hurt her, when in reality it hadn't been him she'd flinched away from, but the memory of what had happened so many times before when her shoulder had been grabbed. Her thoughts of Mikuo were ruining her relationship with Kaito, yet he kept popping back up into her head, always with his hand held ready to strike.

She was scared of him, but she couldn't let that keep her from loving Kaito. He was there for her; he loved her for her, not her body. She wasn't something for him to touch and play with, but she was someone for him to talk to and kiss and hold when she was sad. He had done so much for her, and she for him. So what had they done to deserve the lives they had? Miku cursed with illness, and Kaito with poverty, the only real blessing either had found was each other.

"Kaito…" she said, grabbing his shoulder to stop him. He hesitated for a second before turning around, looking at her with a cold expression.

"Why are you being so nice?" he asked. "I hurt you! I hurt you like that bastard…."

"Kaito! You didn't hurt me!" Miku urged, trying to get the information to flow into his head properly. "It was just….when you got all mad and grabbed me…..it reminded me too much of him….."

"Oh Miku," he grabbed her once again, pulling her into his body. She grabbed him eagerly, her eyes lighting up when she saw that he'd gone back to normal. He smiled down at her, admiring her cuteness as she jumped on him like a little schoolgirl. They held each other for a few moments, moving against the side of the pavement to let people pass.

"You have such beautiful eyes." He murmured into her ear, fingering the fabric of her shirt behind her neck. "They remind me of someone."

"Who?" Miku asked, closing said eyes as she leaned into him, placing her head on his chest.

"An old friend." Kaito said, rubbing her back the way a mother might to her child. "It doesn't matter; you're eyes are different from hers. They're all your own."

"You smell good." Miku said quietly. Kaito laughed, causing her to blush once she realized what she had said. He kissed her cheek and broke their embrace, leaving his hand to linger within hers.

"Come on, I want to show you something."

…

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"I think I've sobered up, but thank you for staying with me."

"No problem," Al said with a nod, his usual grim expression missing, it's conqueror a pleasant smile. Luka had been the first person in a long time to listen to him and provide him conversation. She had come across as rough and angry at first, but it hadn't even been the alcohol speaking. It had been her unstable emotions, driving her to drink until there was nothing left to comprehend from the world.

She had told him a lot. Her name was Megurine Luka, she was twenty years old, she liked tuna, she hated alcohol, and she was alone. Apparently, she was only drinking to keep herself from thinking about the guy who apparently left her. Al didn't know much about relationships, but Luka made them sound like absolute shit.

"You know where you're headed?"

"Yeah, I know how to get back to where I'm staying from here." She opened the door and stepped out, her body only half draped in sunlight. Al watched as she hesitated, half in and half out of the tavern. Turning to look back, she gave him a smile, which drew him forward, causing him to subconsciously reach out and grab her upper arm. She looked back at him, frowning in confusion. He was confused himself. Why had he grabbed her? Habit, probably. Dell and the guys had built the reflex of grabbing onto girls into him, and he had snatched her arm out of habit.

"Sorry," he said, releasing her arm. "It's just kind of sad to see you leave. You're the only one who's actually listened to me in years."

"I hope everything works out for you. I wish I had some advice to give."

"Even if you did, I wouldn't deserve it."

Their gazes wandered for a moment before finding each other, which was when they locked together, neither wanting to move away from the other. A silence spread out over them like a large blanket, but it was the kind of silence no one wanted to break.

But apparently, silences like that can't last forever.

"Yo, Al." the lock holding their gazes together broke, and both turned to see a young man with white hair leaning against the side of the tavern on the outside, sheltered by the shadows; not like November sunshine was anything to hide from.

"Hey Dell," Al replied, stepping awkwardly away from Luka. She looked to him, but his eyes screamed a warning. Luka immediately understood; this was the boy Al had spoken of.

She started to move away from the door, but her wrist was quickly caught by a strong, pale hand. Fear rising in her chest like a quickly inflating balloon, she turned back to see that the boy had grabbed Luka, his eyes filled with sadism and lust.

"Who's this?" he asked, sounding all too innocent. Luka's terror boiled, making her want to be sick. She shrieked as , with a quick jerk of his wrist, Dell pulled her into the shadows, catching her with both arms. "She's cute, where'd you pick her up?"

"Let go, Dell." Al stepped forward, trying to make his demand as casual as he could. "She isn't for you to play with."

"And who's to decide that?" Dell asked, running his dirty fingers through Luka's hair, making her whimper. She wanted to scream, call for help like she had been taught if this ever were to happen to her, but she couldn't find her voice. It was almost as if Dell had stolen it, and now she couldn't call for help from her dry, terror choked throat.

"We need to keep as low a profile as possible." Al reminded the white haired boy, who had lost interest in anything that wasn't Luka. "Snatching another girl isn't a very good way to do that."

"Oh, but she doesn't seem like she's gonna make a big scene, right babe?" he reached his arm around Luka's shoulder, trailing his pale fingers across her breasts. "You'll be good won't you?"

Luka feebly tried to squirm against the iron like grip that held her torso and arms firmly in place, preventing her from using any of the self-defense techniques she knew. Her captor laughed and moved his free hand away from her chest and up to her face, where he ran his thumb down her jawline.

"Yeah, she'll be good." Dell said, twisting Luka around so she faced him. She flinched as he leaned in close, his hot breath stinking of tobacco and smoke in her face. "We don't have to keep her, just let me play with her a bit." He grinned over at Al. "Thanks for finding her, buddy. I like her."

"But you're still not going to stop until you get the green haired chick, are you?" Al said with a sigh. Luka's eyes widened in realization, and her fury momentarily overtook her terror. She glared at Al, her eyes blazing.

"You tricked me!" she cried before Dell silenced her voice to a minor squeak with a quick squeeze of her abdomen. Al looked guilty, but he said nothing as Dell moved his face so close enough to her for her to hear him breathing. She had been twisted around so that Al was now behind her, making it impossible for her to stare in anger and desperation. Instead, the red eyes of Dell stared into her blue ones, searching for fear. She tried to shrink away from him, but it was nearly impossible to move within the confines of the boy's grasp/

"Don't pay any attention to him." He said, cupping his hand around her chin. "We're going to have some fun together, you and me. How does that sound, babe?"

Luka squeaked, feeling his hand move to grab her butt. She squirmed, but this only made him laugh, enticing him to feel her more to watch how uncomfortable and scared it made her.

"Do what you want, there's no one around. We come out to this place for a reason, though I can't imagine what a cute little girl like you is doing out here. You could get raped or something out here." He moved his head back a bit, his eyes rolling up and down her body, assessing her figure. "It's alright; you're coming with me now. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." He grinned at his own empty promises, knowing that false hope was painfully tempting, no matter how ridiculous or unbelievable it was. He turned to look at Al, momentarily looking away from Luka. "Let's go, I want to get home."

Al looked to the ground, letting his forehead shadow his eyes as he followed Dell through the shadows and toward an alley. Tears welled up in Luka's eyes and dribbled down her cheeks, though she found herself unable to sob. She watched the alley approaching, knowing that once inside, there wouldn't be much of a chance of coming out. She'd heard stories of girls and women being raped before, and many of them were murdered to keep from telling anyone, while others were held hostage and assaulted repeatedly. She felt stupid for having trusted a man she had just met in a shady tavern, exteremely stupid. If she had just left a moment sooner….

"Hey!" a deep voice echoed through the alley they were about to enter and through Luka's eardrums, belonging to neither Dell nor Al. She twisted around and looked up, her heart immediately swelling with hope when she saw his face. It was beautiful seeing a face she had thought she would never see again, though she wasn't sure how he would feel, considering how he most likely felt about her, especially for lying. Though all she cared about now was; she had a chance! Someone had found her, and was going to save her!

The voice soon sounded again. "That girl might not be mine anymore, but she isn't yours either. So I would recommend putting her down if you want to walk away from here in one piece."

"Beat it, you little rat." Dell spat, not even loosening his grip in response to the threat.

"Looks like you got a girl of your own anyway." Al commented, not sounding guilty in the slightest.

Luka twisted to try and get another glimpse, but Dell held her firmly, preventing her from doing so. He had a new girlfriend now? Since when? She inwardly scolded herself, knowing she should be thinking about more important things, like not getting raped, for instance.

"Wait a second, is that who I think it is?" she heard Dell say, his voice ridden with interest.

"You seriously want to try again, Honne?" a familiar sounding young girl's voice called, sounding more annoyed than afraid. "You get your ass kicked every time you try, and it doesn't look like you can do much while holding onto Luka there."

_How does she know my name? Have we met somewhere, or did he tell her?_

"Well then," she heard Al say, sounding excited. "Let's get on with it then," he paused for a moment before calling his opponent by name.

_"Kaito"_

* * *

**I'm not even going to say it, I know you're all ready to stab me.**

**Question Time**

**Were you expecting Gakupo to save Luka? I bet you thought it was him when Kaito showed up, didn't you? Don't lie to me you bastard. 0.0**

**Are you reading/have you read any of my other stories?**

**I was planning to get so much done today, but all I did was watch every episode of Dangan Ronpa with my friend. Is that bad?**

**Are you getting sick of the same thing happening over and over again? DELL! WHY ARE YOU SO PERSISTENT?**

**Did I mention that I'm slowly losing my mind?**

**How was everyone's Halloween? BlueStarMagic and I dressed up as Luka and Miku from Magnet and ran around telling people we were lesbians (but I'm pretty sure she's straight...)**

**Did any of you actually remember that Kaito and Luka dated in the past, but he thought she died in a fire?**

**It's 11 pm and I haven't done my homework. Meh, I can do it tomorrow. Is my procrastinating out of control?**

**Is it bad that almost none of these questions have anything to do with the story?**

**Are you sad for no Lily and Kiyo? Well, an up-and-coming chapter will feature LOTS AND LOTS of them, so don't worry!**

**Do I need to consult a professional about my sadism and other issues?**


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